A Hundred Oneshots
by PhoenixCaptain
Summary: [Theme 49: Umbrella] sometimes he hates the surface. it feels lonely. but at least he has her.
1. Introduction

**A/N: So I decided to take the 100 themes writing challenge. Therefore, this will just be a place to dump all of my random, various Zelda oneshots based on the 100 themes challenge. **

**Unlike the full-length story I wrote, The Shadow Boundary, this will *not* have an updating schedule. For all I know, I could post two or three of these a day, or two or three of these a year. It all depends on when I get them finished.**

**I am totally open to critique on any of these since I know it'll help me improve - after all, the whole reason I'm taking the 100 themes writing challenge is to get better! :3 Thanks for reading, guys!**

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:: | _Theme one,_  
:: | Introduction

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

The young boy sat in Headmaster Gaepora's office, staring expectantly at the door. His legs dangled off the edge of the chair, too short to reach the ground. With every passing second he wished he could do _anything _except just sit there, but the headmaster had told him to stay put.

Finally, after what felt like an age, the door creaked open and Headmaster Gaepora stepped into his office. He shut his door and put his hands behind his back and sighed, staring at the boy before him. "Link."

The little boy took this as an indicator that he could finally get out of the chair. He dropped to his feet and looked up at the headmaster with wide, innocent eyes. "Where are mommy and daddy?"

Gaepora's expression softened, and he looked at the boy with sad eyes. He paused for a long while, as if unsure of what to say. "Your parents... I'm sorry, but your parents won't be returning."

Link's eyes widened, and he stood there blankly, confused. What did he mean, they wouldn't be returning? A strange feeling overcame him and he didn't know what to think of it; was it sadness? No, it was different, but what?

The door creaked open once again, and the headmaster turned to investigate the disturbance. Link poked his head around Gaepora's wide body to see who stood in the doorway. It was a small girl that looked about his age, with bright blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Link had seen her before - he thought she was the headmaster's daughter, but he had never spoken to her and didn't know her name.

"What are you doing here?" Gaepora asked softly, kneeling to his daughter's level. "I have to speak with Link here. Would you mind waiting outside?"

The girl blinked. "I _was_ waiting outside, father, but Henya said she prepared a snack for him." She pointed to Link. "She wanted me to get him."

Gaepora chuckled. "Is that so? It's unusual for Henya to be so generous, isn't it?"

The girl smiled. "It is, but she said she felt bad for him. And she even said she'd give me a sweet roll if I came to get him!" Her smile turned to a wide grin.

Her father laughed and patted her shoulder. "All right, take him to get a snack, then. And will you do me a favor? Try to cheer him up. You're very good at that, my dear."

The little girl nodded her head excitedly. "Okay, father!" she said happily, bouncing into the room and grabbing Link's hand. He instantly flinched away from the strange girl, and she seemed offended by his action. "I was just going to show you to the kitchen," she mumbled.

Link shook his head wordlessly. He didn't want anything to do with this girl. He was still confused about his parents. Why wouldn't they be returning to him? Had they abandoned him? What was happening? And that odd feeling still wouldn't leave him alone.

"Don't you want a snack?" the girl asked, staring at him with pleading eyes. "Even if Henya is a mean old lady, she still makes really yummy sweets."

Sweets sounded good. Link's shoulders sagged in defeat and he breathed a deep sigh. He still wanted to know more about where his parents were, but at the same time he didn't. It was a strange conflicting feeling - he was desperate to know why they wouldn't be coming back to him, but for some reason he dreaded the answer. So he decided to completely ignore the feelings and focus on snacks instead. Slowly, he nodded. "I want sweets," he said quietly.

The girl beamed and hurried out of her father's office, and Link scrambled to keep up with her. "Be back in time for dinner!" Gaepora called to his daughter.

"Okay!" she replied as she swept down the stairs to the first floor of the academy. She dashed down the hall and into a room at the end of it, then stopped and waited for Link to catch up. "This is the kitchen," she said excitedly, motioning to the room. Without even waiting for any kind of reply from the boy, she called out, "Miss Henya!"

"All right, all right, be patient!" came a sharp, shrill voice from the other side of the kitchen. An old lady poked her head out from behind a large oven. "Oh, you brought the boy. Good for you. Wait just a second." She disappeared behind the oven again and emerged a moment later, holding a plate of fat rolls slathered with a clear glaze. "Well, here you go, you two."

"Thank you, Miss Henya!" the little girl said with a wide grin. She grabbed a roll off the plate and devoured it in record time.

Link took a roll for himself, and frowned when its glaze dripped all over his hands. It was still quite hot, and thin tendrils of steam curled up from its surface. He blew on it a couple times before he bit into it, and was delighted at how delicious it was.

"Don't I get a thanks?" Henya sniffed.

With his mouth still filled with delicious sweet roll, Link said in a muffled voice, "Thanks."

She rolled her eyes. "You're welcome," she grumbled, taking the plate of rolls and sauntering off to the other side of the kitchen again.

"I have somewhere else I want to go," the little girl said to Link, reaching for his hand - but she stopped short when he stared at her with a displeased frown and a furrowed brow. "Hurry, let's go there before it's time for dinner!" She spun on her heel and sprinted out of the room, with Link at her heels, curious about where she was taking him.

She ran out of the academy and down the flight of stone stairs that led to the lower portion of Skyloft. After taking a few confusing twists and turns and jumping off a tiny ledge, Link and the girl stood in front of a small lake. A tall waterfall fed it, and the lake itself poured off the edges of Skyloft. There were a few tall rock pillars poking out from the surface of the lake, providing a path from one side to the other. The girl smiled widely. "Let's go!"

Before he even had a chance to reply, the little girl was leaping from one stone pillar to the next, and Link decided to follow. The girl was nimble and danced easily across the tall stones, but Link nearly tripped multiple times. At one point he just didn't jump far enough, and he plunged into the water below with a scream.

A moment later he resurfaced, coughing and spitting water out of his mouth as he paddled toward the shore. The little girl's giggles reached his ears from across the small lake - she had already reached the other side. He shot a glare at her over his shoulder. It was all her fault he'd fallen in the water - even though she hadn't really done anything to him... but she was the one who had brought him to the strange stone pillars and told him to jump across, so of course it was her fault!

The girl skipped across the platforms with the grace of a remlit, and landed in front of him on the shore with a big grin on her face. "That's not how you do it, silly!"

Link glared at her, wiping his wet bangs out of his eyes. "Hmmph," was all he said.

"Come on, let's try again."

"I don't want to," he complained.

"Come on!" she persisted, spinning on her heel to face the stone columns again, and glancing over her shoulder to give him an encouraging smile. "You can do it. I can! It's easy!"

Link huffed. No fair! If a _girl _could jump across a few tall stones sticking out of a lake, then he could too! Getting to his feet and trying to put on a brave face, he said, "I know I can do it! I just tripped because... because I wanted to."

She giggled at that. "Here, like this!" said the girl, easily skipping across the pillars again with an obvious sense of pride in each leap she took.

_I can do better than her! _Link thought to himself with narrowed eyes. Exerting all his concentration, he jumped from one stone pillar to the next until he reached the other side. He wasn't half so nimble as the girl, but he was so proud of the fact that he'd crossed the pillars that he didn't care. He looked at her with a wide grin. "See, I did it!"

"You did!" She clapped her hands together happily. "You're not as boring as I thought you'd be!"

"You thought I'd be boring?" Link huffed, insulted.

The girl nodded without hesitation. Apparently she saw nothing wrong with being overly blunt... "But you're not so bad," she said sweetly - obviously an attempt at a compliment.

Link didn't reply. Instead, he looked down at his soaked clothes and complained about being wet and cold. He squeezed out his small tunic as best as he could without removing it, then shook his head. He still blamed the girl for his plunge into the water.

The little girl remained silent for a long while, dropping to the grass in a sitting position. She leaned back, supporting herself with her hands, and stared up into the blue sky. "I haven't met your parents yet! So where are they?"

Link froze at the question. Where _were _his parents? He felt a terrible pain he couldn't explain at the thought that they'd left him without saying a word. "I don't know," he mumbled forlornly, sitting down beside the girl and wrapping his arms around his legs.

She gave him a sideways glance. "When are they coming back?"

He shook his head, burying his face in his knees. "I don't know," he said again. He didn't know anything. He felt so many feelings that were foreign to him. What had Gaepora meant, saying his parents wouldn't be returning?

"Oh." The girl sounded sad - even sympathetic. "My mother suddenly left one day when I was really little. My father said she wouldn't come back ever again. I don't really remember her very much..."

Link remained silent. He didn't know what to say. He had a strange sadness in his heart that felt as if it were eating him. Why had his parents vanished without a word? He felt so betrayed.

"So if it makes you feel better, guess what? I'll be your friend!" the girl declared happily, quickly getting to her feet with a grin.

She would be? Link didn't know how he felt about that, actually. If she dragged him along on strange adventures that involved getting himself soaked and embarrassed, he wouldn't like that very much. But she seemed so enthusiastic about being his friend that he couldn't help but give a tiny smile.

She planted both her hands on her hips and tried to give him a commanding look. "Come on, get up! We're going to go somewhere else to play! Oh, wait..." Her expression fell, and she frowned. "I think it's time for dinner... I have to get back or father will be really mad. Sorry."

He blinked at her. "Oh."

"But I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I promise. First thing in the morning!"

First thing in the morning? Link wasn't sure if he liked the sound of that. He scrunched up his nose at her, which made her giggle heartily. "See you tomorrow, then!" And, with a wave, she turned to leave.

Link scrambled to his feet and watched as she began skipping over the stone pillars back across the little lake to Skyloft proper. "Wait!" She didn't seem to hear him, so he called again, louder, _"Wait!"_

She froze mid-step and spun to face him with a curious look in her innocent blue eyes.

"What's your name?" he called out to her. If they were going to be friends, it would be awkward if he didn't even know who she was.

She grinned and cupped her hands over her mouth as she yelled back at him, "I'm Zelda!" Then, with her grin widening further she declared in a very matter-of-fact tone, "We're going to be the best of friends, Link!"

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**A/N: So I didn't want to give much detail on Link's backstory here, because I actually like it best when it's left up to interpretation. That's why I wasn't very detailed on that part of it. You can decide for yourself what happened to his parents. :P Anyway, thanks for ****reading! I love reviews and critique if you have any :D**


	2. Complicated

:: | _Theme two,_  
:: | Complicated

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: Rated K :

* * *

Link huffs in frustration and kicks the locked door, making the heavy chains clink loudly together. He's been stuck in the awful Forest Temple for days now - he's hungry and thirsty and tired and wants nothing more than to get out. The little imp in his shadow keeps snickering, but other than that, she's been strangely silent - usually she berates him for getting lost or taking too long to solve a puzzle, but hasn't spoken a word for hours. Link doesn't know why the fact that he's horribly lost is so amusing to Midna, but she keeps sniggering at him, over and over again.

All he needs is a key. One accursed key, and then he'll be able to unlock this accursed door and continue on through the accursed Forest Temple for Goddesses only knew how much longer. But Link has been all over the temple; he's scoured every single room and has still found no trace of the key he needs.

When his long ears detect yet another impish giggle from his shadow, he grits his teeth and decides he can't take it anymore. "Midna," he groans, "where do I go?"

"I don't know," she declares cheerily, leaping up from his shadow to take on a wispy black form. "You're the hero. Aren't you the one who's supposed to figure out this kind of stuff?"

His shoulders droop, and he breathes a deep sigh, running a hand through his dark golden hair to try and calm himself. "Can't you just float around and try to help me find the key?" She can _float, _for the love of Nayru... might as well put it to good use, right?

But Midna only giggles again, her single visible eye narrowing in amusement. Honestly, what does she find so funny about this situation? Isn't she in a hurry? Doesn't she want him to move on as fast as possible? So why won't she help him? Her giggles grow louder and louder, until finally she's bellowing with raucous laughter, her tiny black form doubling over as she gasps for air while she guffaws endlessly. Shaking her head, she leaps wordlessly back into his shadow, still snickering loudly.

What is with her...?

So since the little imp refuses to aid him, Link reluctantly returns to visit all the rooms he's been through already. His eyes narrow in concentration as he scans each corner for any trace of a key, but he finds nothing... as expected. Where in the name of Din can the key be hiding?! _Oh, Goddesses, please help me find the key, _he prays mentally, wanting nothing more than to unlock the door that stands so stubbornly in his way like a wall of immovable stone.

Eventually he gives up and tries to pick the lock on the door with his sword. Of course, his blade is far too large to fit in the keyhole, and he makes no progress at all.

With an aggravated and tired sigh, he drops to the ground on his back and closes his eyes. Maybe he can take a short nap. He doesn't feel very deserving of it, since he hasn't made any progress through the temple. But maybe if he just allows his mind to rest for a little while, he'll be able to think more clearly when he awakens again.

Then he feels something tickling his fingers. Curiously, he cracks an eye open, only to see that a particularly large Walltula has dropped from its place on the ivy growing on the walls and was now crawling across his fingers. Eyes widening, Link scrambles to his feet and desperately shakes his hand, trying to get the extremely poisonous spider off him. As he stumbles backward a few steps, still madly waving his hand around, he slips off the edge and into a pool of muddy, scummy water below.

Now thoroughly angry, he resurfaces and gasps for breath, shaking disgusting water out of his hair as he climbs up onto dry land again. He collapses and lies there for a while, sopping wet and filthy and cold and miserable, and he investigates his hand.

The Walltula had bitten him before he managed to get it off. He can see the red mark where it had pierced his skin. Oh, no... now he has poison to deal with, and considering his recent drop into scummy water, the bite is probably going to get even more infected. Thankfully, he had thought to bring a disinfecting salve with him before he'd entered the Forest Temple so many days ago, so he reaches into the pouch hanging at his side and gropes around blindly for the bottle he'd put it in.

As his fingers roam the contents of his pouch, they graze across an unfamiliar metal surface. What could it be? Furrowing his brow, he grasps at the mystery object and pulls it out into the light to investigate it.

His jaw drops, and he completely forgets about the bite on his hand as he stares at the item clasped between his fingers.

There, pressed between his thumb and forefinger, is a small metal key, just the perfect size to fit the lock of the accursed door in front of him.

At first Link feels a wave of relief at finally finding the elusive little key. Then he feels a hot pang of embarrassment; how long had he just completely forgotten about it and left it sitting in his pouch? And then, finally, his cheeks tinge red with anger. "Midna!"

She snorts with laughter. "Yes?"

"You knew this was in here all along, didn't you?"

Her only reply is a loud, hearty cackle.


	3. Making History

:: | _Theme three,_  
:: | Making History

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: Rated K :

* * *

The moment he pulled the sword from its pedestal, a legend was born.

The moment he plunged that same sacred blade through the beast's forehead, the legend was sealed.

The moment the princess pressed the ocarina to her lips and sent him through time itself, history was made.

Throughout the following generations, people tried desperately to follow in the footsteps of history. They told stories of the boy who traveled through time itself to save the land, and they would search desperately for the mark of three holy triangles on the backs of their sons' hands. They wanted the hero to be reborn. They wanted him to return to keep the land safe; with him at their side, they would never truly be in danger.

But the mark of the golden triangles never appeared. Eventually the people began to wonder if the hero's spirit had abandoned them; would he ever be reborn?

As time passed, the people began to clothe their young boys in green and encourage them to embark on heroic quests. But none of those boys became the hero.

He never returned.

Only his history survived on the land's dying breath.

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**A/N: Ehhh... yeah, it's super short, but I felt like that was an appropriate place to end it. This is probably a transition between Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker. So. Yeah. x3**


	4. Rivalry

:: | _Theme four,_  
:: | Rivalry

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: Rated K :

* * *

Nabooru was the one who deserved the Gerudo throne.

She had a desire to protect her people; to care for them and love them like Ganondorf never could. That wicked man only wanted to use the Gerudo for his own purposes, and Nabooru knew he cared nothing for them.

Sometimes Ganondorf pretended to care. Sometimes he would say that he only wanted Hyrule so he could give his people a better place to live. And sometimes, Nabooru wanted to believe him.

But she never would. He was cruel and cold and didn't understand what his people truly wanted. Ganondorf was selfish; that was the hard truth of the matter. It may have been his birthright to rule, but he never really _deserved _the Gerudo throne. His people had loved and followed him at first, seeing his very existence as a gift from the Sand Goddess. But as time passed, they had begun to realize just how wrong they were, and that Ganondorf was more of a curse than a blessing. Some of the Gerudo - most of them, actually - still followed him out of nothing more than necessity.

Nabooru refused to follow him. She couldn't let her people know, though, or else someone might tell the great Ganondorf that she was in direct opposition to him and his ways. So she remained second in command, instead of first, like she should have been.

She should have been the queen of the Gerudo. She would be a much better leader than Ganondorf. She wouldn't be so cold and so dark as he. And just because he was in command now didn't mean he would be for long.

Nabooru was the one who deserved the Gerudo throne, and for Din's sake, she was going to have it.

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**A/N: Oh look, Another really short one. Sorry. x3**

**I just thought this would be an interesting topic to write about (and I like Nabooru), sooo... yeah. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading! ^^**


	5. Unbreakable

:: | _Theme five,_  
:: | Unbreakable

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: Rated T :

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Ganondorf had taken her away. He'd killed her.

Through Link's entire journey to defeat Zant and Ganondorf, it had all been about saving Hyrule. It had all been about keeping the land and its people safe. It had all been about preserving their happiness.

Now it was about revenge.

With one simple action - Ganondorf crushing Midna's mask in his great hand as an obvious sign that he had killed her - Link's entire motive had changed.

Link had once been a kind, patient, easygoing farm-boy. Every day he awoke to herd goats, help to cultivate and harvest crops, care for his horse, and visit with his friends. That boy was gone, leaving in his place a battle-hardened man covered in scars both inside and out. And a fierce rage boiled inside him - the rage of a beast that could not be tamed.

The demon man stood before the hero in the wide, outdoor arena and smirked. Holding his bright sword in a lax, casual grip, he motioned tauntingly. That one simple action made the hero's rage boil over.

He rushed forward, sword held aloft, and he clashed blades with the demon thief. Again and again their swords met and separated, until Link thought he would collapse. He had already fought Ganondorf three times before this, and had sustained a few injuries here and there. He was exhausted. It was almost too much.

Sweat poured down his back and glistened on his forehead, but he refused to stop fighting. He would kill Ganondorf even if it ruined him. His unadulterated anger was the only thing that kept him fighting, even when the demon thief sliced Link's stomach and his chest and stabbed his shoulders. Blood seeped from the hero's wounds, nearly covering his entire body, and though he felt weak and saw darkness gathering at the edges of his vision, he would not stop.

The Triforce of Courage began to glow on the hero's left hand, sustaining him long after he should have fainted. How long had the fight gone on? Link couldn't keep track of time. The dark clouds in the sky blotted out any light of the sun or of the moon, and for all he knew, they could have been battling for days.

But Link would not rest until he had avenged Midna. He would not rest until he let Ganondorf taste of the pain that he had inflicted upon the princess of Twilight.

Ganondorf brought his sword down in a savage arc, and Link crashed his blade into his enemy's. The two of them gritted their teeth and pushed their weapons against the other's, fighting desperately for the upper hand. Link's vision darkened. He slipped backward by an inch, then two, then three. He was losing.

He brought up his right hand to support his left and pushed with all his might, and his Triforce brightened. Slowly Ganondorf's blade was pushed back, further and further. The demon thief's eyes widened when he saw that now _he _was the one that was losing.

With one final, mighty shove, the hero pushed his enemy back. Ganondorf stumbled backward, and though he tried to regain his balance, his heel caught in his long cape, and he tripped.

The demon thief collapsed on his back with his expression frozen in terror. He knew he had to stand as quickly as he could, or else he would lose the battle. He tried to stumble to his feet, but it was too late.

With hard eyes Link slammed his foot onto the other man's stomach, forcing him to stay on the ground. He clutched the Master Sword in both hands and lifted it above his enemy's chest.

In that second, he saw a plea on Ganondorf's face. It was a plea for mercy; a plea for the hero to spare the demon's life.

_How pathetic, _Link thought with narrowed eyes. And he plunged his blade through Ganondorf's heart.

His enemy screamed in agony, and his eyes rolled back into his head as his entire body trembled with agony. Blood seeped from his chest, and he gasped for air that he couldn't seem to get.

The hero's eyes were cold and unsympathetic as he knelt on his enemy's body, still clutching the sword that was driven through the other's man's chest.

Ganondorf had thought the Triforce of Power would give him strength to rise above anyone that stood in his way. He had thought he was superior to everyone else in the world. He had thought he could _win._

Unfortunately for him, the hero was unbreakable.

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**A/N: Did anybody else think Link's totally expressionless face when he killed Ganondorf in the end of Twilight Princess was creepy? No? Just me? ...Well anyway, that's what inspired this. It's kind of... interesting...? Feel free to tell me what you think. **

**Oh, and... I laughed when I wrote that Ganondorf tripped over his cape... xP That's what you get for wearing a long cape during a battle to the death, Ganondork!**

**Anyway! Thanks for reading! c:**


	6. Obsession

:: | _Theme six,_  
:: | Obsession

* * *

: Rated K+ :

* * *

Shadow Beasts roamed the halls of the darkened palace. The Sols were hidden away where they could no longer shed their light on the realm. The Twili people grieved at the terrible state of their world. Sitting on the throne of Twilight, I watched it all with a smirk. The people deserved what they had gotten. They had challenged my right to rule.

I possessed the power of a god. No being could ever hope to challenge me. I was more powerful than they all, save for my god. He was strong. He was benevolent. He had understood what I wanted and he had granted it to me.

Two large Shadow Beasts flanked my throne, their markings glowing red. They were mine. Many Shadow Beasts yet roamed the palace courtyard, their markings glowing green. They were not mine, but soon they would be.

The palace halls were dark and dreary, void of unnecessary furnishings. I valued practicality, not beauty. I didn't need my palace to be beautiful; I needed it to serve me well. The very walls of it were a maze so that no intruder could easily find their way to my throne. I had formed it to be that way; I had teleported entire staircases away from one place and moved them to another. I could do that. I had the power of my god.

And to think that foolish princess had challenged my power. I was the true king of Twilight, but she had boldly denied me my right. I gave her what she deserved. I had forced her to watch as I turned all her precious people into terrible beasts. That alone had tortured her enough, but I didn't stop there. I had to humiliate her. I had to render her weak and useless. So I had turned her into a tiny imp without the power to do anything for herself. I could do that. I had the power of my god.

The Twilight sky was darker than it had ever been before, as if the very land were grieving the loss of the Sols. The Twilight Palace, which had once been beautiful, was nothing more than a dark fortress where I took refuge. The courtyard was no longer a place for the elegant, glowing flowers of Twilight to bloom; instead it was a barren stretch of empty rock without a single plant to be seen. The emerald-green water of Twilight had once poured down in majestic sheets along the sides of the palace; it had been replaced by the dark power of my god, cascading down the walls to form protective barriers around my fortress.

_The Twilight Princess watched as I turned her people into beasts of shadow. I could do that. I had the power of my god. With her red eyes wide and ever-so-slightly wet, she said, "Is this what you want - to turn our beautiful realm into a cold, barren wasteland?"_

At the memory, my heart did something strange - it might have slowed, or dropped, or skipped a few beats. But why? Why did it do that?

Was this place really a cold, barren wasteland?

_"It is not a cold, barren wasteland," I replied. "I am creating a new world - a world where everyone will answer to me and to my power. Foolish Midna... You cannot see why I am qualified to rule. In your blind pride you believe yourself to be above me. But I am not blinded. I can see. I can see that this realm will fare better under my rule. And you - you took my throne, and you have disrespected me, and you have challenged my power. I will prove that I am far superior to you!" And with a simple sweep of my arm, I had turned the princess into an imp. I could do that. I had the power of my god._

No, I was right; I saw a world where anyone who challenged me would pay, and they would taste my power and my wrath. She was wrong; she saw a world filled with pain and suffering and death.

Was this place really filled with pain, suffering, and death?

No! _No!_ "No!" I screamed. I was right! She was wrong! I deserved the throne, not her! I leaped to my feet, conjuring a ball of dark magic in my hands and tossing it at the Shadow Beast to my right. The mass of dark power crashed against its skin. The beast collapsed to the ground and writhed, scratching desperately at its new wound as if that would relieve its pain. "Stand up!" I demanded, and the beast obeyed. Of course it did. It had to. I was powerful. "That is the power of my god," I spat, pointing to the dark beast's wound. "This is the power of my god," I said, motioning to the palace around me. "And this is the power of my god!" I hissed, sitting down on my throne and proudly lifting my head.

I was the King of Twilight!

A strange feeling came over my throne room then. The very walls seemed to exhale in relief, as if they had been holding their breath for a long time. The air itself seemed to shimmer and glow. My Shadow Beasts began to grumble in discomfort and shift their weight.

Ah... _she _was here. I cocked my head to the right and felt a slow smirk spreading across my lips.

"Go," I commanded my dark beasts, and without hesitation they dashed forward on their hideous human-like legs and arms and exited my throne room. Somewhere deep inside me, I knew they wouldn't be able to stop her. If she was powerful enough to have gotten this far, a few of my petty servants wouldn't be able to do anything.

It was only moments later that the door to my throne room lifted, and a man clad in green entered, clutching a sword glowing with the power of light. But I didn't pay much attention to him. It was the princess-turned-imp by his side that I focused on.

_She and I stood outside the room where a royal meeting had just been held - a meeting to decide when the princess of Twilight should be crowned as queen, since the king had recently died and a new ruler was needed to take over the throne. The council-members hadn't said that it was my right to rule; they had said it was hers. They were blind. _

_"Zant, I know you want the throne, but it isn't yours. It isn't your right to rule. It's mine. You have to accept that," said the Twilight Princess with hard eyes. "I only say this because I worry for you. You need to stop wishing for things that aren't yours and that you can't have. It will destroy you." She was so tall, so regal, with her flaming orange hair spilling around her beautiful shoulders and framing her perfect blue-skinned face. Her lilac lips were pressed into a line, and her thin, dark brows were lowered. I understood why the Twili thought she would make a wonderful queen - they were bewitched by her beauty. But not me. I preferred practicality over beauty. I saw that she was weak. I saw that she didn't have sufficient power to rule._

_"Don't patronize me, Midna," I said coldly. My entire body trembled with hatred and anger. I hated her for thinking she was fit to take up the throne; I was angry at her for stealing what was rightfully mine. I should have been king. My blood was just as royal as hers. For years I had wanted the throne; for years I had convinced myself that I was powerful and that someday, the people of the Twilight would see that, and they would give me the throne._

_She opened her mouth to speak, but I wouldn't let her. I refused to hear any more of her venomous words. She would only try to convince me that I wasn't fit to rule, but she was wrong. I was right. With my jaw trembling from rage - and maybe even sadness - I spun on my heel and marched away through the elegantly-furnished palace. I had to be alone. I couldn't stand to be in the awful presence of the princess for a second longer. Through the ornate halls I went until I reached the wide balcony that stretched over the golden skies of Twilight, and there... There I met my god._

The imp lifted her red eyes to look at me, and she grinned, her single fang poking from beneath thin blue lips that had once been full and lilac. "Zant."

My smirk widened. I would prove to her that she was weak. I would show her that she was nothing. I would defeat her. I would break her. I could do that. I had the power of my god.


	7. Eternity

:: | _Theme seven,_  
:: | Eternity

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

All the people knew him - the blue-eyed hero with bright blonde hair and a kind smile. Even as their land suffered and grieved, he was there to save them. He was there to give them comfort in the knowledge that this wasn't the end. He was going to save them from their every affliction, and none of them needed to fear.

He had been given a gift from the Goddesses - the Triforce of Courage; the mark of a hero. Some said that this gift enabled him to do all the amazing things he did; to fight even when he should have collapsed from exhaustion many times. Time and time again he saved them, and the people loved their hero.

As time passed and he grew older and older, the people began to fear that he would die - of course he would, all living beings died. But they held onto a great hope that the hero would never _truly _die, for he would be reborn again and again every time the land and its people needed him. He would be reborn for an eternity if need be.

And so it was that, at his funeral, the people didn't truly mourn - instead, they sang songs of the future; of the day when the hero would return to them.

A hundred years later, the nursemaid gently pressed a baby bundled in cloth of satin into the mother's arms, wide smiles on both their faces. "Isn't he beautiful?" the nursemaid squeaked excitedly.

The baby didn't cry. He didn't fuss. He simply opened his deep blue eyes and gazed up at his mother. She brushed a hand against his fuzzy, bright blonde hair, and smiled as he tried to lift his tiny hands toward her. On the back of his left hand was a small, golden mark of three triangles - the Triforce of Courage; the mark of a hero.

Tears sprang to the mother's eyes. "Yes. Yes, he is beautiful."

* * *

**A/N: What is it with me and short oneshots? Whatever... xD**


	8. Gateway

:: | _Theme eight,_  
:: | Gateway

* * *

: Rated T :

* * *

His enemy's blood dripped from his sword; his own blood streamed from his side. With expressionless eyes he watched as the monster he had slain collapsed to the forest floor. With his right hand he clutched at his wound in a futile attempt to stop its bleeding, but his precious life fluid seeped out from between his fingers anyway. The man paused for a long time before he wiped his sword in the grass and sheathed it at his back.

His tiny blue fairy companion watched the scene with sad eyes and hands clasped over her chest. "Link... we need to get you to a healer right away."

The man said nothing. Instead he pressed his lips into a thin line and struggled to remove his tunics, then he sat down with his back to a tree and cringed at the pain in his side. The fading light of day filtered weakly through the crowns of the green trees above him, giving him just enough light to see by. He fished through the brown satchel he always carried with him and produced a vial filled with thick green salve.

"Link?" the fairy tried again, fluttering closer to him. The glow she always emitted illuminated his wound with a blue light.

Still he said nothing, instead opting to uncork the vial of salve. He shuddered as a cool breeze danced through the forest, toying with his golden hair and rustling the leaves on the trees. Link began to reach a finger into the salve.

The fairy's face scrunched in irritation, and she cried, "Listen to me!"

He blinked and lifted his sky-blue eyes in question. "What, Navi...?" he asked in a weak, exhausted voice.

"You need to clean your wound before applying salve to it!" she stated, frowning at his foolishness. Hadn't he taken care of his own injuries plenty of times? Why did he still not know how to do it properly?

Link sighed deeply and got to his feet, his face tensing with almost every movement, but he gave no other sign that he was in pain. Without a word the man set off deeper into the forest, and Navi the fairy followed closely behind him. "Are you searching for a pool of water to clean yourself in?"

He nodded wordlessly.

"I will fly ahead and look for one. Take care of yourself while I'm away and do _not_ get into any more trouble, all right?" Without waiting for a reply she fluttered high into the air, and her violet eyes scanned the forest below her. She couldn't help but glance back in Link's direction every now and then, but the trees obscured him from view. Just thinking of him made her sigh in longing for bygone days.

_The ten-year-old boy gazed out upon Hyrule Field for the first time. His sky-blue eyes glimmered with the innocence and excitement only a child could possess. "Wow, Navi, Navi!" he cried happily, practically dancing in place with joy. "It's so... so big! I've never seen anything like it!"_

_The little blue fairy giggled. "This is Hyrule Field, Link. And that, in the distance -" She pointed with a tiny finger to a grand structure, silhouetted against the light of the setting sun - "is the castle. That is where the Great Deku tree told you to go."_

_He nodded excitedly, his head bobbing so quickly that Navi feared it would fall right off his tiny shoulders. "Wow, it looks so big... A castle... I've never seen one before. What's a castle?"_

_Living in a forest filled with never-aging children for his whole life had made the tiny boy very naive, Navi realized, and she would have a lot to teach him. She would have to act almost like a mother to him. The thought made her want to squirm with anxiety, but she took a deep breath to calm herself. _I'll take care of him, and guide him, and raise him, _she thought to herself with a determined nod. So with a smile she said to the excited young boy, "Why don't you go there and see? I will help you along the way if you need anything."_

_With a giant grin, Link nodded yet again. "I can't wait to see what a castle's like! And the Great Deku Tree said I had to meet a princess there, right? What's a princess?"_

_Navi laughed and, shaking her head to herself she told him, "I'll explain on the way, all right?"_

The little blue fairy discovered a pond in the middle of the trees, clean and clear save for a few dry leaves floating on its calm surface. The moment she spotted it she turned around and fluttered back in Link's direction, slowly lowering herself beneath the canopy of trees as she flew. When she spotted him, still standing where she'd left him, she smiled. "Link! I found a pond for you to clean off in!"

He said nothing as he grasped his satchel in his left hand and stepped forward. Navi tried not to get frustrated as she thought to herself, _He never says anything. I miss the days when he was a young, curious boy who would ask me all kinds of questions at every chance he got. But now..._

The fairy shook away her thoughts and led Link through the woods toward the pond she had found. When she reached it she settled near its edge and watched as he placed his satchel on the ground before stepping into the pond. He knelt down so its cool water covered his wound, and he sucked in a breath through his gritted teeth as he began to clean it. His blood clouded the water, and the pond's once-clear surface turned a murky red. He watched it all with pained eyes and a deep frown set into his face.

Once he was finished, he climbed out of the pond and reached for his satchel, flipping open the flap and reaching for his bottle of salve. Navi watched as he applied the salve to the deep gash in his side, and she couldn't help but say, "Be careful..." He ignored her as he produced a roll of bandages from his satchel and wrapped them around his wound. Once he was finished, he rolled his broad shoulders and heaved a great sigh, shutting his eyes and leaning against the fat trunk of a nearby tree.

_"Saria told me a story once, Navi," Link said, his pure blue eyes sparkling. The tiny boy sat at the bank of the river that flowed from Zora's Domain, his small legs dangling into its rushing water. He clutched the ocarina that his best friend Saria had given him; he'd been playing it only a few seconds earlier when he had suddenly stopped to speak to his fairy companion. "She said there's a really pretty gate somewhere - made of solid gold! - and it leads into a land called Heroism." He grinned widely and nodded, making his bright golden hair bounce around his thin shoulders. "You seem to know a lot, Navi. Where's Heroism?"_

_The fairy smiled. Ah, the innocence of a child. How could she tell him that the land of "Heroism" and the golden gate leading into it was nothing more than an abstract concept? After a moment's pause where she pursed her lips and lost herself in thought, she said, "Well... it is very far away, and you can only reach it when you've become a true hero."_

_His eyes widened with wonder and curiosity. "Ooh!" Link cried happily, scrambling away from the river's edge and jumping suddenly to his feet. "So if I finish this quest that the Great Deku Tree sent me on, I'll be a hero, right?" When Navi took only a second too long to reply, Link leaned forward toward her and demanded, "Right?"_

_She gave a single nod. "Right."_

_He laughed in delight; it was a high and sweet sound. "Saria will be so proud of me if I become a hero! Maybe I can even go to the land of Heroism. Think I can take Saria with me?"_

_Navi could not help but laugh too. His happiness was infectious. "Of course you can."_

The sun was setting, throwing the ominous, long shadows of trees across the forest floor. With a frown Navi asked, "Don't you think you should start a fire to keep the monsters away? Or maybe you should sleep in a tree branch so they can't reach you. No, you would fall off... Maybe you could -"

"Navi... I am no longer a child," he said in his deep, melodic voice. Or, it was usually melodic, anyway. Now it was only tired and pained. Opening his eyes again, he stated in a rather irritated voice, "I am capable of caring for myself."

The fairy frowned. Was he, really? He often did stupid things, and if it weren't for her guidance, she was sure he would have died a long time ago. But he never seemed to notice. He never thanked her... Not usually, anyway. Had he grown tired of her? Did he hate her? At that thought, tears sprang unbidden to her eyes, and she desperately blinked them away.

The oncoming night was cold. Link seemed to remember that his torso was still unclothed, since he quickly pulled his tunics over his head and wrapped his arms around himself in a desperate attempt to fight the chill.

She watched him with her eyes still wet, despite the fact that she had tried multiple times to regain control of her emotions. He had once been so small, so thin, so fragile. Now he had the perfectly-sculpted body of a warrior, and he was certainly a fierce warrior at that. No creature that stood in his way had a chance to survive. He was so strong.

But he had paid a price for that strength - his childhood and his innocence had been taken, practically torn away from him by the constant presence of the blood on his sword and his hands that would never wash away. His eyes showed the countless battles he'd fought; most the time they were cold and hard instead of bright and innocent like they'd once been. He rarely smiled; rarely spoke. Navi hated to see him in such a state.

_The young man appeared to be seventeen, but really he was only ten years old. He had tried to pull the Master Sword from its pedestal far too early, and since the sacred blade had deemed him too young to wield it, it had forced him into a magical sleep for seven years. It had torn his childhood away from him. He had lost seven whole years of his life. _

_As he walked through the Temple of Time, his footsteps echoing against the marble walls, he kept glancing down to himself in confusion and very nearly tripping over his own two feet. "Navi, this is so weird," he complained. His voice was much deeper, and it was odd to hear that deep voice whine like a child. "I don't know how I feel about this..."_

_Navi sighed patiently. She had been listening to him complain again and again about how odd it felt to suddenly be seventeen years old, though he still had the mind of a child._

_Abruptly, he stopped in front of the doors of the Temple of Time. "Isn't it... kinda dark in here?" he mused aloud, glancing up at one of the windows high up on the wall. Almost no light filtered through them, making the temple quite dim. Shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, he pushed open the doors and stepped into the world beyond for the first time in seven years._

That _was the moment his childhood had truly been taken away from him._

_Hyrule Castle Town had once been a prosperous place. People had filled almost every corner of the cobblestone streets, talking and laughing. Small, fluffy dogs had run through the streets, chasing each other in fun and yipping in joy. Quaint homes and shops had stood almost everywhere, pots of flowers adorning the windowsills, and the walls were painted in bright colors. The square had been graced by a beautiful fountain which was quite frequently surrounded by plenty of activity._

_Now it was nothing but ruins. Not a single building was intact; they were all dilapidated, their once-colorful walls faded. Rubble was strewn across the dirty cobblestone streets. The only plants in sight were dead trees, their bare and ashen branches reaching toward the perpetually darkened sky like thin, spindly fingers. There was no chatter. There was no laughter. There were no dogs yipping in joy. There was only the cawing of a hungry murder of crows._

_But perhaps the worst change in Hyrule Castle Town was the large group of demons standing beside the ruined fountain. They were skeletal monsters with thin, wrinkled brown skin barely clinging to their misshapen bones. All of them stood completely still, as if time itself had frozen._

_Navi gazed upon it all with her eyes wide in terror, but Link was far more traumatized than she was. His entire body was quivering with fear, and his face was frozen in an expression of horror and confusion. "But... I worked so hard to p-prevent something like this from... happening... w-what... Why?" he stuttered quietly._

_At the simple sound of his voice, all the awful, skeletal demons raised their heads in his direction. Their eyes were empty black sockets, like pits of death itself._

_The poor, terrified young boy screamed._

"Link?" Navi asked quietly, breaking the strange, unnatural silence of the night.

His icy blue eyes flicked to her small form for a moment. He said nothing, but she was sure he was listening. At least she hoped he was. "Why are we here, in this forest?" It wasn't necessary to be there - it seemed Link had just taken a detour for no reason. She had already asked him twice before, _"What are you doing here? We are supposed to awaken the sixth and final sage - why are we headed to the Lost Woods?" _The first time she had asked, he hadn't replied. And the second time she'd asked, he had simply said, _"I'm so tired." _His voice had been so utterly empty and hopeless that Navi hadn't dared to question his odd, vague answer. She could only hope that asking him again didn't cause him to retreat into his shell of dull silence once more.

Though she desperately hoped for a reply - a proper one, this time - he didn't give one. He looked away into the shadowy woods and pressed his lips together into a thin line. That was a sign he was going to keep to himself, Navi knew. He wasn't going to answer her.

Although Link was sitting right nearby her, and although she had accompanied him through his entire journey thus far, she still felt so alone. She watched the man's face as he gazed off into the Lost Woods with an almost longing expression. He was always so close by, yet so far away at the same time...

Navi felt tears stinging at her eyes again, and in order to distract herself from them she said, "We need to go, Link. We need to awaken the sixth sage. I still do not know why you have come here, but if we have no purpose for being in these woods, then there's no reason to linger."

He wasn't listening, it seemed. He was still staring off into the woods with that longing expression. Biting her trembling lip, Navi continued. "I don't understand why you've been ignoring me as of late. You never used to. We used to -"

"Saria," he said suddenly, interrupting her.

The little fairy blinked in surprise and hovered closer to him. "What?"

"Saria," Link repeated, turning his gaze to his fairy companion. "I thought maybe, if I came here... I might hear her play again." There was a familiar sadness in his eyes, one that Navi completely understood. He missed his best friend. And Navi was sure he missed being a normal child, oblivious to the hardships of battle.

"She's the sage of the Forest Temple, you know that," the fairy said softly. "She can't come out and play for you anymore."

He averted his eyes yet again. "I know." After a long pause he swallowed and said in a very quiet voice, "I'm sorry, Navi. I'm just so tired..." His tone quickly turned bitter. "I can't be a hero. It's too much."

His fairy companion smiled and landed gently on his shoulder. "Do you remember the story Saria told you a long time ago?"

He looked at her again with his dark golden brows furrowed. "Which one? She told me many."

"The one about the gate to the land of Heroism," Navi reminded him, a hopeful expression on her small face.

"Ah." He nodded once in reply. "I know now that 'Heroism' wasn't actually a place. It was... a concept. But I used to think it was real, and I imagined myself passing through that golden gateway with you and Saria beside me, proud of me for becoming a hero..." Link trailed off and gave a quiet, wistful sigh.

Navi fluttered away from his shoulder and stopped to hover in front of his face. She wanted him to look at her for a moment. She wanted to know he was listening. She wanted him to look her in the eyes, even if her eyes _were _rather small. "Listen to me, Link," she commanded.

Though her voice was tiny, he couldn't help but listen, and he quickly looked to her. She held his gaze with her own and said, "That beautiful golden gateway... you passed through it a long time ago. You're already in the land of Heroism. You have been for a long time. It just isn't as beautiful as you thought it would be. But you can change that." She smiled encouragingly at him. "You just need to heal this land. And in order to do that, you need to awaken the sixth and final sage."

He blinked at her and remained silent for a long time, as if he just weren't quite sure what to make of her words. Navi began to grow discouraged, thinking she hadn't said the right thing, and that maybe she'd hurt him more than helped him. Each second of silence was more painful than the last, and eventually the small fairy flew a few inches away from him as her smile fell.

"Then... I had better stop procrastinating," Link said suddenly, surprising her. She glanced back to him, only to see him brushing his bangs out of his eyes. And... was that a smile, tugging at the corners of his lips?

She giggled; she couldn't help it. It was small, but he was _actually_ smiling.

Link's childhood had been stolen from him. He had been forced to grow from a boy into a man within a very short period of time, and his awful experiences had cut him deeply. The bright world he'd once known had turned dark, and all his friends had left him to complete his terrible journey alone. It had hurt Navi to watch him grow into a quiet, solemn man in such a short period of time.

Both of them had been hurt, but they would heal.

With a grin, Navi said, "Yes, you'd better stop procrastinating!"

* * *

**A/N: Oh hey look, a long oneshot! ...Well okay, it's actually pretty short (especially compared to some oneshots I've seen that have gotten up to 15,000 words! Wow!) but it's long compared to all my others... so. xP**

**Anyway, tell me what you think! I personally feel that I had Link acting a little *too* ****angsty, but... ehhh... I don't hate it, so I'm just going to leave it as is xP If you think it's ridiculous though feel free to tell me, haha.**


	9. Death

:: | _Theme nine,_  
:: | Death

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

A hooded figure scurried through the wet cobblestone streets of the town, ducking his head to avoid the pouring rain as much as possible. Music drifted out from inside one of the nearby buildings, and the figure lifted his head to read the sign posted above its door - _Moblin Inn._

With a long sigh, he lifted the flap of a small satchel hanging at his side, hidden beneath his cloak, and he peeked into it. Only thirty rupees left... But he needed to get out of the rain, and an inn seemed like a perfect place. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go - he was a traveler, far away from home, and he couldn't ask one of the townsfolk to give him a bed for the night. People everywhere were wary of travelers. He didn't blame them.

The traveler straightened his back; he turned the knob of the inn door and slowly pushed it open. Lively music flowed into his small, round ears, and he smiled as he stepped into the warmth of the building. Men and women alike sat at the many tables scattered across the first floor of the inn, drinking and eating and laughing. Two minstrels and their accompanists stood in one corner, singing a rather spirited song. The traveler shut the door behind him and threw back his hood, revealing a youthful face framed by short brown hair. A few people glanced up to him; some of them smiled and some of them frowned. He ignored them all and crossed the room, coming to a stop in front of the innkeeper.

The innkeeper glanced up from the red rupee he was polishing and frowned. "Sorry, all our rooms are full."

The young traveler's face fell, and his amber eyes dropped to his boots. "Ah. I'm sorry to hear that." He lifted his gaze again and tried a friendly smile. "Do you at least have a meal for me?"

"Hmm." The innkeeper cocked his head to the side. "There's a bit of leftover meat and some pumpkin stew. That'll be five rupees."

"I'll take it," the young man replied with a nod, opening the flap of his satchel and peeking into it. He fished through its contents for a moment before he produced a blue rupee and laid it on the counter before the innkeeper.

The gruff-faced man gave a grunt of approval and swept the blue gem into the palm of his large hand. He turned and opened a door directly behind him, and shouted into the room beyond, "Marie! Bring out the rest of the food!"

"Coming!" called a low-pitched female's voice from inside the other room. A moment later a large, bright-faced woman stepped out from the room, carrying a bowl of soup in one hand and a plate of pork in the other. With a wide smile she handed the young traveler his food, and he accepted it with a nod of thanks.

Holding his food, he searched for an empty table to sit at, but there were none. The inn was definitely quite busy. After a little while, he found a single empty chair, but the rest of the chairs at the table were filled with broad, laughing men. The young traveler made his way over to them and smiled in a companionable way. "May I have this seat?"

One of the men - he had a thick, dark beard and bright blue eyes - grinned and nodded. "Of course!" As the traveler sat in the empty chair and set his food on the table, the bearded man asked, "And you are?"

"Darren," replied the young man around a mouthful of slightly cold but still delicious stew.

"I am Loren," the bearded man replied with a grin, "and these are my friends - Rufus and Nolan," he said, motioning to a large, ruddy-cheeked man and a timid-looking man with bright green eyes, respectively. "What brings you to Hyrule City?" asked Loren.

Darren smiled and took a bite of pork as Nolan and Rufus sipped their ale. "Ah... I'm just exploring. Looking for something, I suppose you could say," the young traveler said with a nod as he spooned another bite of stew into his mouth.

Rufus leaned forward across the table with raised red brows. "Oh? And what're you looking for?"

Darren lowered his eyes and hesitated. He nervously shifted his weight in his seat. He frowned and scratched at his cheek. He sighed. Whenever he told someone of his strange quest, they always wrinkled their noses at him and told him it was hopeless. He didn't believe any of them, but he was still reluctant to share the details of his journey. "I'd rather not say," he replied nervously.

Loren nodded. "I can respect a man's secrecy."

Rufus snorted loudly and waved a hand at his friend. "Shuddup, Loren! I want to know! And Nolan does too, no doubt!"

The green-eyed man shrugged and gave a wide smile. "I wouldn't mind knowing," he said in a quiet but friendly voice.

Darren grimaced. He supposed it wouldn't really _hurt _to tell these men about his quest... He cleared his throat and said, "I'm looking for any information pertaining to the ancient hero."

The other three men at the table stilled, their lips tilting down into frowns. Although everyone else was noisy with their constant laughter and chatter, the silence at Darren's table was almost stifling. Finally, Loren broke the awful quiet. "The ancient hero, you say? Do you actually believe the old tales - that the hero used to be reborn every time Hyrule needed him to save it?"

The young traveler nodded eagerly. Though he had been reluctant to share the details of his odd quest, he didn't mind defending his beliefs now that they were out on the table. "Of course I believe them."

"And... you believe in the Goddesses, too?" Loren asked with narrowed eyes.

Darren only nodded again.

"Well, that's stupid!" Rufus declared loudly, grunting and slamming his mug of ale onto the table. A few drops of the amber liquid slopped out from his mug and dripped onto the wood of the table below. "The Goddesses don't exist! Their hero never existed, either! All those legends of the young man clad in green with the Triforce of Courage on his hand, and how he went around saving the world lifetime after lifetime, they're all just myths! They were never true!" His voice rose with every word, and his expression drew into a fierce scowl. "If they were true, then why have the Goddesses forsaken us now? We have a tyrant for a king and no hero to save us!"

His voice was so loud that the entire inn heard it, even over the incessant chatter and the loud music. Absolutely everyone in the room fell quiet, even the musicians, and they all turned their heads to face the source of such an outburst. If the silence at the table only moments ago had been stifling, this silence seemed to take on physical form and squeeze at everyone's throats with a cold, merciless hand. Darren bit his lip and squirmed.

Loren rubbed his temples in distress and shook his head. "Rufus, you fool," he hissed under his breath.

Slowly, chatter returned to the inn, though it was much quieter and there was no laughter. The musicians began to play again, but the song was quieter and much less happy. Rufus shook his head angrily and huffed. "Nobody cares. They all agree. Nobody likes the king. Haven't you noticed how miserable the people are - how much they hate him?"

Loren sighed deeply. "Just... stay quiet, Rufus, and enjoy your ale." Rolling his eyes he turned his gaze back to Darren. "So you're looking for the hero."

"Well..." Darren furrowed his brow thoughtfully. He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to continue the conversation, especially after how awkward things had gotten. Yet something compelled him to keep talking. So with a quiet and awkward clearing of his throat, he continued. "Yes, I'd love to find the hero. Goddesses know we need him. He's the only hope this land has."

The three men remained silent - mostly silent, anyway, save for Rufus, who was noisily slurping his ale. Nolan's face was grim, and Loren's brows were lowered in thought. "It's nice that you still have hope," Nolan grunted quietly.

"Hope is a naive thing. It's for children," Rufus stated boldly, wiping his lips with the back of his hand and scowling heavily. "Hope died a long time ago. We should stop clinging to it."

The young traveler's gaze fell to the floor. These people thought hope was gone. They had nothing to hope for anymore and nothing to cling to for safety. Such a sad fate, he thought with a small shake of his head.

He lifted his eyes again when Loren spoke. "I know I'm probably not the most trustworthy person to accept advice from, but... you seem like a strong, capable young man with a great life ahead of you. It'd be a shame to waste that life. My recommendation? Stop looking for the hero. It will only lead you to a bunch of dead ends, and you might get the king's attention too. And trust me... you do _not _want the king's attention." He leaned back in his seat and folded his arms across his broad chest. "Why not just settle down and live a comfortable life somewhere without worrying about chasing a myth?"

The three men stared at him. To Darren, it felt as if their gazes were cold and even sad. He hated seeing the utter hopelessness in their eyes. Pressing his lips together and clenching his fists, he stood from his seat and nodded once to the men. "Thank you for your company," he said, trying hard to sound polite.

"You're leaving?" Nolan asked quietly, and Darren only nodded once more in response.

Rufus grunted and waved a hand in farewell.

"I can only hope you'll take my advice," Loren said with a raised brow.

Darren smiled faintly. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't. The hero is the only hope I have to cling to anymore - he's the only hope _Hyrule _has to cling to anymore. I'll look for him until my dying day if I need to. But thanks anyway." He spun abruptly on his heel and, casting a glance over his shoulder he said, "Good night."

Loren blinked at the young man and frowned. "Yes... good night," he replied dully.

And so the young traveler threw up his hood as he stepped into the rainy night once more. He had no time to rest. He had a hero to search for.

* * *

**A/N: When I saw the theme "death", I instantly knew that I did not want to write a sappy and/or tragic death scene. So instead I started thinking of death in a more abstract-ish way, I guess, like the death of a concept. So I decided that "hope" was the ****thing that had died, and I came up with this. It's... interesting. xP Tell me what ya think!**


	10. Opportunities

:: | _Theme ten,_  
:: | Opportunities

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

The Item Check is the most boring place in all of Skyloft. Maybe it's even the most boring place in the world, I don't know. The only thing I do _all _day long is sit here, staring at nothing at all, waiting for something to happen. And nothing ever does. What's the purpose of having a place to store all your items if nobody ever uses it?

The only good thing about the Item Check is _him. _Oh, I wish he'd come now! I really want to see him... _He's _the only one that uses the Item Check, and he's the only one that seems to care about me at all. He's so wonderful... Whoops, was that a giggle? Did I just giggle, aloud? That's awkward. Thankfully, nobody seems to have noticed... except Rupin's making a strange face at me. But he always wears that strange face, so I don't know, maybe it's nothing.

I wish I could think about anything else, but my mind is too intent on _him _to care about anything else. And I guess I have time to think about him, since nobody ever comes to the stupid Item Check anyway, and...

Oh _sweet Hylia,_ that's him. It's really him. He's coming this way! Stop beating so quickly, heart, you're making me feel nervous... Ugh, and now my palms are sweating. Just great.

His dark golden hair frames his beautiful face just perfectly, and his eyes... Oh, his gorgeous blue eyes, I get lost every time I look into them. I'd better not look into them, then, because I don't want to get distracted and make a total idiot of myself. Um, look at anything else. ...Why did I just look at his lips? He's smiling. It's such a perfect smile. Everything about him is perfect. Is he more muscular than last time I saw him or are my eyes playing tricks on me? _You're acting like a hopeless romantic. Stop being so stupid._

I wish that little voice in my head would just shut up. "H-hello." Is my voice too quiet? Too shy? _You're making a fool of yourself! Stop being so awkward!_

His smile widens. "Good morning." His voice is so warm and deep and flawless. I swear, my heart is going to explode and I'm going to melt into a puddle of useless goo. I really hope I didn't just give him a breathy sigh there. I really need to regain my composure...

"What can I help you with? I'll help you with absolutely anything you want. Anything." Did I really just say that...? Oh well. Hopefully my smile isn't too awkward. Hopefully my hair is cute enough. Is it messy? Is my dress pretty? Does it make _me _look pretty? Ugh, I really need to stop doing this to myself. I'm acting like one of those pathetic girls in a romance novel that always trips over her own two feet to please her crush in whatever way possible.

"Uh, thanks?" He slightly cocks a brow. That expression looks perfect on him. Then again he always looks perfect. "I bought a new shield, so I don't need this one anymore." I just watch as he pulls his shield off his back. It's thick and iron. "But I'd like to keep it... just in case." For some reason, the simple action of him leaning forward with that amazing smile on his face to place his shield on my counter is making me _really _jittery. Why does he have to be so gorgeous?

I honestly have no idea what he does all day; why he carries around a sword and shield with him wherever he goes and why he often returns with his green tunic torn and bloodied at the edges. I know he's a knight, but no knight I've ever met has been injured as frequently as he has. The poor guy. I hope he's all right, whatever he's doing...

How can I like him so much when I don't even really know that much about him...? Really, I'm getting sick of myself and my stupid behaviors! I wish I could just stop admiring him and actually _talk _to him - ask him a few things about his life, what he likes to do, where he likes to go, why he's so perfect...

Hylia, I hope I'm not blushing. I duck my head to hide my face just in case my cheeks are as red as an apple, and I try to lift his shield. Oh wow, it's heavy. To think he carries this around all day, every day... he's so strong... Grunting with exertion - how embarrassing, I'm such a wimp - I somehow manage to carry it into the back room where I store everyone's stuff. There isn't much back here... mostly _his_ stuff. Though I can't help but smile like a total dunce as I look at all of it.

Okay, that's enough of that. I scurry back to my counter and I'm crushed when I see he's leaving already. No, he can't! I need him to stay - even if it's just for a second longer! Oh no, what do I say?! "Link!"

He stops and glances over his shoulder. Oh, thank the Goddess. "Hmm?"

What can I tell him? What can I say just to make him stay for a moment longer? I have nothing. I really don't know what to do... "Make sure to come back," I finally manage to call out to him. Is it just me, or do I sound really desperate? How pathetic of me.

One of those perfect smiles graces his beautiful face, and I'm sighing dreamily again. "Yeah, sure," he says, and then he's gone.

The Item Check is the most boring place in all of Skyloft. Maybe it's even the most boring place in the world. But at least it gives me the opportunity to see Link, and that makes everything worth it in the end.

* * *

**A/N: UGGGGHHHH. This is the stupidest, sappiest thing I have _ever written._ /buries face in hands**

**...But ohhh weeeellll... Bleeehhhh... Anyway, I really wanted to write about Peatrice because she's ridiculous and she cracks me up.**

**I sincerely, deeply apologize for making you read this utterly sappy piece of strangeness and I hope you can forgive me. xDDD**


	11. 33 Percent

:: | _Theme eleven,_  
:: | 33%

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

I step to the edge of Skyloft and gaze off into the distance, in the direction of the desert. I really don't want to go to Lanayru Desert. It's filled with horrible electric crabs, quicksand, and then there's the matter of the Timeshift Stones. Those are extremely annoying. I mean yeah, they're really fascinating - how the heck do those work anyway? - but they can be a pain sometimes. Maybe I can just get a good night's sleep before I return to the desert to find its guardian dragon...

No. I have to find that guardian dragon. And when I find him, I'll find Zelda. I have to keep her safe.

But maybe I can at least take a short nap first. She won't mind, right? I know I need to hurry, but I'm just so tired. With a deep sigh I unstrap my sword and shield from my back and toss them to the grassy floor, then I collapse onto my back on a nearby bench and shut my eyes.

And then comes the tell-tale noise. It's a strange sound, almost like a metallic glimmering. And it's followed by the equally-as-metallic voice.

"Master Link. Since you have have stocked up on all the items you need for your journey, I highly suggest that you head to Lanayru Desert as quickly as possible." The voice is utterly devoid of emotion.

"Yeah. Thanks, Fi," I grumble, not bothering to move or even open my eyes.

There is a long stretch of silence after that, where Fi - thank the Goddess - says nothing. I'm really looking forward to a nice, long nap. The sound of loftwings cawing in the sky and the soft breeze blowing through Skyloft is lulling me to sleep. I can feel myself drifting off...

"Master Link."

Ugh.

Without waiting for any kind of reply from me, Fi continues in that robotic voice of hers. "My calculations show that it is currently ten twenty-three and fifty-six seconds in the morning. If you go now to Lanayru Desert, you can spend your time there until approximately six-thirty in the evening before returning to the sky to rest. It is in your best interest to hurry."

"Uh-huh." I'm not really listening to her, if I'm being honest. I'm too tired.

There's another long pause after that, and Fi says yet again, "Master Link..."

Am I imagining the irritation in her voice? I must be... but I swear she sounds frustrated. Wow. My eyes quickly flutter open and I manage to sit up - even though I'm exhausted - with one leg drawn up to my chest and one arm draping over the back of the bench.

Fi is floating in front of me, her metallic blue face completely expressionless.

I lift a brow and give her a tiny smirk. "Is that... _annoyance _in your voice, Fi?" Why am I so amused by this? Maybe because she's just so utterly dispassionate all the time, and hearing any semblance of emotion in her voice is definitely new and very interesting to me.

"I am incapable of experiencing emotion," she states dully, her voice robotic once again.

She always says that.

"My calculations show that there is an eighty-one percent chance this conversation is useless to your current quest, and that it is no longer beneficial to carry it out."

Seriously...? Heaving a deep sigh I brush a hand through my bangs and shake my head. "Yeah, all right," I huff, thoroughly irritated by now. "But can't I take a short nap before I continue? I'm really tired."

Fi simply floats in front of me, silent for a long while. I hope she's going to allow me to sleep without constantly interrupting me. But since she isn't going back into my sword, I assume she's still going to bug me. "My calculations show that there is a seventy-seven percent chance that taking a nap will not aid you in your current task."

I groan, collapsing on my back onto the bench again and grimacing. She's helped me out so far on my quest, and I don't know where I'd be without her, so I do owe her a debt of gratitude. But if she isn't the most irritating person in the world sometimes, then I don't know who is.

Wait, I take that back... Ghirahim is the most irritating person in the world.

"So... if there's a seventy-seven percent chance that lying here isn't going to do me any good, then what's the other thirty-three percent?"

"There is a thirty-three percent chance that something dire will happen as you sleep, and the dragon will come to find you and beg for your aid."

"Wait, what?" I splutter incredulously, sitting up again. "Really?"

Fi hesitates for a long while. I notice that she's lightly pursing her blue lips; something I've never seen her do before. "No."

I blink in surprise. "So... you lied to me when you said the dragon might come looking for me?" She's certainly never lied to me before...

"I believe my statement about the dragon coming to ask for your aid is referred to as _sarcasm, _Master Link."

Sarcasm? Is she serious? I can't help a wide grin as I look at her. "Sarcasm, Fi. So you really _are_ irritated with me!" If she really is upset at me, I don't even care. Just the fact that she's experiencing any emotion at all is a miracle. It means she just might be less boring all the time.

I swear I see her metallic eyebrow twitch, though I really could be imagining things at this point. "Master Link... I only attempted sarcasm because it is something I have seen you use somewhat often, in my presence and in the presence of the Skyloftians. However, that does not mean I am experiencing emotions. I am incapable of such things, and..."

Shaking my head, I drown her out and fall onto the bench again, heaving a great sigh and closing my eyes. Really, she can be so unbearable sometimes.


	12. Dead Wrong

:: | _Theme twelve,_  
:: | Dead Wrong

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

I am the sun. I am its fierce heat, searing the heart of the land.

I am the moon. I am its cold gaze, watching the world with unblinking eyes.

I am the day. I am its harsh light, brilliant and bright yet painful and blinding.

I am the night. I am its deep darkness, crawling over the land with limbs of shadow.

The boy is a butterfly. He is small and fragile and floats about on delicate wings. Since I am the sun, I will burn his wings and send his body fluttering to the earth in a flaming heap.

The boy is a candle. He flickers with a tiny, weak flame and barely manages to chase away the shadows. Since I am the moon, I will snuff out his scant light with the ice of my gaze.

The boy is fresh dawn. He gives weak, watery light to the world and timidly rises from behind the mountain peaks. Since I am the day, I will break him as I rise far above him and blind the world with my superior light.

The boy is the setting sun. He lazily drifts below the horizon with tired eyes and a wide yawn. Since I am the night, I will crush him in my dark clutches until his agonized screams echo through my blackened sky.

I am all.

He is nothing.

Yet my fire cannot sear him. My gaze cannot freeze him. My light cannot blind him. My darkness cannot grasp him.

Why is this so, why when I am all and he is nothing?

The boy is a butterfly. His wings are tiny and delicate yet they are strong, and he flies still even as I scorch him and scald him.

The boy is a candle. His flame is small but easily shared, and my cold gaze cannot snuff these many lights.

The boy is fresh dawn. His light is shaky and weak, yet the people look upon him with hope, and my harsh light cannot blind them.

The boy is the setting sun. Though he is weary and frail, he paints the land in lustrous gold, and the people no longer fear my night.

He is all.

I am nothing.

* * *

**A/N: Oh look, did I write in first-person present-tense again? Oops! x3**

**Anyway, this was my attempt at being poetic. I'm not a poet, as you can see 6_6**

**...This was actually supposed to be from Majora's point of view, maaaybe during the final battle ("the boy" being Link, obviously), since I love Majora's Mask and it's tied with Twilight Princess for my favorite Zelda game ever. This was a very odd experiment indeed, tell me what you think. xP**

**And I just wanted to thank you guys for all your awesome reviews! You make me so happy :'3**


	13. Running Away

:: | _Theme thirteen,_  
:: | Running Away

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Link would do anything to escape that land - the land where the sun's light was cold and the moon glared down on the world with a cruel face.

He gazed down at the strange mask that had fallen at his feet only seconds earlier, then his eyes flicked to the even stranger man that stood before him. The man's grin never left his face, and his eyes were always crinkled into crescents.

"Take that mask," said the man, still grinning, never stopping. "It's yours now."

With lips pressed into a thin line, Link knelt and carefully scooped the wooden mask into his hands, watching warily as the odd man loomed over him, his white teeth still showing and glimmering in the scant light of the clock tower.

"But..." The man's eyes narrowed, but still he grinned, even wider than before. "I healed you - I restored you to your true form."

Link glanced down to the Deku mask in his hands and nodded. "Thank you," he replied quietly.

"In return for my services, don't you think it's high time that you returned _my _mask to me?" A single chuckle escaped his ever-smiling lips.

No. Link didn't want to. He was no longer a weak, helpless Deku Scrub; surely he had the ability to return home now and leave the accursed land behind. But how could he? The people of Termina had seen such suffering. If he could help them, then wasn't it his duty to do so? ...No, it wasn't. He had no obligation to help these people. He had no personal ties to them, no reason to save them when he could simply return home and live in peace.

He deserved his peace. And oh, how he desperately wanted it. For years he had been fighting; he had grown up so abruptly and then returned to the age of a child again. But only physically. His body was eleven years old, but mentally he felt like a tired old man that only wanted peace and rest.

But why should he deserve peace when the people of Termina didn't have it?

_I'm so confused..._

"I... will see what I can do," he finally replied, giving a nod to the grinning man.

"See that you return my mask to me." Still grinning, never stopping.

Link stepped out from the dark clock tower into the light of the sun, but he didn't have to shield his eyes. The sunlight wasn't bright enough. It wasn't warm enough. It was strange and foreign.

He glanced up into the sky, and he swallowed at what he saw - the terrible face of the moon, its eyes wide and watchful, its teeth ever bared to the world below. He had seen Termina's awful moon plenty of times before, but each time he glanced up to it his heart froze anew. And if he watched long enough and looked closely enough, he could see its giant face creeping ever closer to the land beneath it.

Quickly averting his eyes from the terrible sight, he watched as people scurried through the streets, all with their mouths set into grim lines and the joy gone from their eyes. They knew they were doomed. They understood their dark fate. They distracted themselves from their imminent death by keeping busy with menial tasks; washing laundry, playing with dogs, reading books, hurrying through the streets of Clock Town to get to their next destination.

_In the next three days they'll all be dead. And it will be my fault._

Link watched the people of Termina with shoulders sagging. They reminded him of the people of Hyrule when Ganondorf had ruined their land - sad and hopeless, but desperate to hide their feelings and ignore their plight.

With a heavy sigh, Link reached into his satchel and slowly pulled out the Ocarina of Time. His eyes scanned its beautiful, smooth blue surface. It would be so easy to return to Hyrule now that he was no longer a helpless Deku Scrub... But could he live with himself knowing that nobody else had the kind of power he did, and that when Termina died he would be the only one to blame?

These people needed a hero. And perhaps Link was the only one that could help them.

He glanced back up to the moon, its cruel face shadowing the land, still grinning, never stopping...

And Link decided that he would do anything to save that land - the land where the sun's light was cold and the moon glared down on the world with a cruel face.


	14. Judgment

:: | _Theme fourteen,_  
:: | Judgment

* * *

: Rated T :

* * *

My god is lying on the grass, a sword driven through his heart and the hero kneeling on his stomach. My god is screaming in agony. I didn't know that gods could feel pain.

With cold, unsympathetic eyes the hero stands. As blood cascades from the wound in his chest where the sword is still pierced, my god scrambles to his feet and bares his teeth. "D-do not think... this ends here," he chokes, his voice weak and blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth. "The history of light and shadow will be written in blood!"

Yes! My god is powerful. My god will not die. My god will revive me, and together we will destroy this land of accursed light! "Revive me!" I shout to him, but my plea falls on deaf ears. Though I float right before him, he cannot see me.

My god lifts his hand and feebly manages to clench his fist. He grits his teeth and shows the back of his hand to the hero, who is standing blankly before him with his face void of any expression. The mark of my god's strength begins to glow; the Triforce of Power. That is the mark of his divinity. It is proof that he is truly a god!

The mark glows so intensely that it seems to pain him. He gasps weakly as more blood pours from his mouth, and he shakily turns the back of his own hand so he can gaze upon it. The mark glows brighter and brighter and brighter - and then it completely fades.

My eyes widen. It can't be. What's happening? This isn't possible!

"No!" he shrieks, staring in horror at his trembling hand.

The hero narrows his eyes. His face is hard, his mouth pressed into an inscrutable line. "It is _your_ history that has been written in your own blood, Ganondorf," he states coldly.

The Triforce of Power has judged my god, and has deemed him unworthy.

My god is weak. He is no god.

Ganondorf's eyes widen in fear, and he looks directly into my eyes. Ah... his time is coming.

His uneven breath quickens, and he stumbles backward, in what I can only guess is a pathetic attempt to escape his fate.

But he cannot avoid death. He is no god.

I speak in a voice I know only he can hear. "Come with me," and my head cocks to the side as a smirk spreads across my lips.

Ganondorf's last breath is a hitching gasp, and then his eyes dull.

* * *

**A/N: Did I write in first-person present-tense _again?! _/siiiighhhh**

**I rarely write in first person, and it's even rarer that I write in present tense, and I think I'm slowly becoming fascinated with the combination ever since I started taking this 100 themes challenge...**

**Anyway, about this certain oneshot. ...I really have no idea what to think of it. I'm not even sure I know what's going on, lol! Oh well, it was fun to write. (Also Zant is like, my favorite Zelda villain ever [probably tied with Ghirahim], so yeah.)**


	15. Seeking Solace

:: | _Theme fifteen,_  
:: | Seeking Solace

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

The full moon hung high in the sky, the waters of Lake Hylia glowing silver under her light. Link sat on the shore of the lake, the water lapping gently at the toe of his boots as he stared up into the black sky with a furrowed brow. Midna thought he looked exhausted, and she felt sorry for him. He had been through so much with hardly any rest.

"The heavens, Midna." He breathed a deep sigh as he stared at the moon's bright face. "How do I get there?"

The little imp leaped up from his shadow and scanned his tired face with glowing sunset-colored eyes. He had suffered so much, all for her sake - because she had told him she needed the shards of the Mirror of Twilight, he had gone looking for them without a second thought.

He was so selfless.

"You've been worrying about it for days, Link." She shivered and wrapped her tiny arms around herself in a futile attempt to stave off the chill of night. "Why don't you sleep now and worry about it later?"

A long silence followed, where he pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head. "But we're so close to finding the last Mirror Shard..." He breathed a heavy sigh and brushed a hand through his dark golden hair. "I can't stop now."

She had driven him to this. She was the one that had pushed him to continue on, even when he was exhausted and desperately needed rest. And she hated herself for it.

But she shook her thoughts away. "Yes, you can rest, and you most definitely need to. You look exhausted." Another chill danced up her spine, and she huffed in annoyance. "And I wouldn't mind getting a good night's rest too... I suppose you don't have a blanket anywhere."

He only shook his head in response.

Midna rolled her eyes. "I thought so. You always _are_ so ill-prepared."

At that, he raised a brow. "I'm not good at being prepared, you know that. Maybe if you'd help me pack for my journeys -"

She interrupted him, having completely ignored his words. "I suppose you'll just have to do for now," she said with a grin.

He blinked in confusion. "What?" he mumbled quietly. "What does that mean?"

Without a response, she settled into his warm chest. Honestly, she didn't know why she did these kinds of things... She felt comfortable around him, she supposed. Too comfortable. She cared about him far too much for her own good, even though she knew her love for him would hurt her later on. It already hurt now.

With her head pressed against his chest, she both heard and felt his heartbeat quicken. But why...? Was it for the reason she thought? No. It couldn't be... she was just getting her hopes too high. "You're supposed to be my blanket, silly wolf, act like one!" she teased him.

At first he hesitated, and the only sound was his loudly-thumping heart, then he gently wrapped his strong arms around her tiny body. And then it was Midna's turn to have her heart hammer wildly in her chest. "Sorry to displease you, master," he said with a light chuckle.

Her heart stopped for a moment to give her a painful pang before resuming its wild pace. He had called her _master._ She didn't want him to. "Please don't call me that." Her tiny hands clutched at the green fabric of his tunic as she stared out at the calm lake surrounding her, trying desperately to chase away the memories of how cruel she had been to him not very long ago at all. Did he hate her for what she had done to him? Of course he did; he had to.

A terrible silence followed, where the only sounds were their nervous heartbeats and the gentle lapping of Lake Hylia against the shore. Finally he replied in a quiet voice, "I'm sorry."

Lightly shaking her head, she whispered around the lump quickly growing in her throat, "No, I'm sorry." Midna had been unbearably awful. She remembered kicking his sides, tugging at his ears, demeaning him, manipulating him for her own personal gain... and he had been nothing but patient the entire time.

Why did she deserve such kindness? She didn't. It was simple as that.

She swallowed - swallowed the self-loathing and the sadness constricting her throat. "Can you ever forgive me?"

She didn't even have to specify what she was talking about. Link knew, she could tell. He looked at her with a solemn expression, the moonlight reflecting in his blue eyes and turning them almost silver.

Suddenly her throat was dry, and her hammering heart completely froze. He was going to say he hated her. He was going to say that he wished she would just leave him alone; that he couldn't stand her presence. Suddenly she began to feel incredibly awkward in his arms, so she tried to distance herself from him - but stopped when he carefully grasped her tiny hand in his. Her entire hand, fingers and all, fit comfortably in his palm. At that moment she felt so small and helpless, but Link was so gentle that she found she didn't mind too much.

Though she wanted to avert her eyes, she just couldn't. His gaze was so captivating. A small smile tilted his lips upward. "I forgave you long ago, Midna. I think... it's time you forgave yourself."

Tears stung her eyes. He was the selfless hero and she was the selfish imp. How fitting it was that Zant had cursed her into the form of an imp... she had proven to be just as cruel as one. How could she possibly forgive herself, especially when she had run away from her throne and her people like a coward? "Really?" she managed to ask, though her voice cracked, and she hated herself for it.

Link nodded, still with that small but kind smile on his face.

How did he manage to be so patient with her all the time? His words echoed in her mind... _It's time you forgave yourself. _She took a deep, shaky breath in an attempt to regain control of her emotions, then she forced a smile. "All right, I'll work on that. Thanks for the advice, wolfy." She lightly patted his head as if he were a dog, then instantly regretted it. He wasn't her slave or her pet. So why did she keep treating him like he was? She was so sick of herself...

But Link was as patient as ever - and more. His faint smile turned into a grin. _"Woof."_

Midna could not help herself from giggling, and her laughter echoed across Lake Hylia. Quickly she clamped her hands over her mouth and managed to get control of herself as she shook her head at him. "I've had enough of you for one night," she teased, rolling her eyes. "So good night." With that she pressed into his chest again, yawned and stretched, and shut her eyes.

Link gave a small chuckle as he laid on his back in the grass, Midna still settled into his broad chest. "Good night, Midna."

She felt a smile pulling at her lips, and she didn't even try to hide it. Somehow he always knew how to comfort her, and she loved him for it. _I forgave you long ago, _he had said.

Even through all her cowardice and her cruelty, maybe she could forgive herself too, someday.

* * *

**A/N: ...Did I forget to mention that I totally ship LinkxMidna? x3 /slapped hard/ Anyway, I tried not to be _too _sappy with this... ...obviously that failed...**

**Anyway, just for future reference - my favorites pairings of all time, ever, are LinkxMidna and LinkxZelda in Skyward Sword, so you will probably see a lot of those pairings whenever I'm in a sappy mood. O/ / /O So uh, yeah, I apologize for that. xD;**


	16. Excuses

:: | _Theme sixteen,_  
:: | Excuses

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Often the little fairy thought about what she would say if she were ever reunited with her hero. Would she explain why she left? No... No, she wouldn't. She _couldn't. _

She sat on the highest branch of a tree, gazing out across the forest and watching the brilliant sunset, her tiny legs dangling off the edge and her large wings folded behind her. Sometimes she felt so alone and incomplete without him. She had been by his side for so long, and had watched as he grew from a boy into a fierce warrior in such a short amount of time. In that time, he had grown so silent and so solemn... And he'd stopped thanking Navi for all her help.

It wasn't like he would ever snap at her or glare at her, but he never really acknowledged her much, either. It was as if she weren't even there. She must have irritated him with her constant nagging.

She only nagged at him because she cared so deeply about him. Navi had been with him for so long and had taught him so much - she felt like a mother to him. And he was like a son to her. She couldn't bear to see him get hurt, so she would constantly tell him what to do and what not to do. He must have gotten tired of her. Although that thought made her heart sting, she supposed she didn't blame him. In his situation she might have been irritated with herself, too.

So when Princess Zelda had sent him back to a time before Ganondorf had ruined the world, and when Link's quest was over before it had even begun, Navi left without a word. She couldn't bear to tell him how hurt she was that he always ignored her and had never thanked her, even though she tried so hard to be there for him no matter what.

It was cowardly of her to leave without saying a word, she knew, but she couldn't even bring herself to say goodbye.

And so she often thought to herself, _If I ever see him again, what excuse would I give for leaving so suddenly?_

A twig snapped somewhere below her. The forest was so eerily quiet that the simple sound made Navi jump in fright, and she quickly glanced down to see what had caused the noise.

There, right below her, was a sight that made her heart pound and her stomach lurch.

Mounted atop a small brown mare was a very familiar boy. He wore a green tunic and a hat of the same color over his bright blonde hair, and his blue eyes were half-closed from exhaustion. His poor mare's gait was sluggish, and her tired rider looked very near to falling asleep in the saddle.

Link.

Navi fluttered off the tree branch and hovered in the air far above him as he passed through the woods. There he was, her hero, right below her. All she had to do was fly over to him and they'd have a joyous reunion.

No, they wouldn't. She was nothing but a nagging nuisance to him. He probably hated her. There would be no joy in their reunion.

_What excuse would I give for leaving so suddenly? None. There is no excuse that could make up for my cowardice in leaving without a word. No... No, I can't face him._

And so she only watched as the young boy Link disappeared into the shadows of the trees, completely oblivious to the presence of his former fairy companion only yards away...

Often the hero thought about what he would say if he were ever reunited with his fairy companion. _I'm so sorry, Navi, I'm so, so sorry._

* * *

**A/N: Well, thanks to _Daisy Bokoblin _for inspiring this little depressing thing... xP Not that she told me to write something depressing, she ****just gave me an idea for the theme "Excuses" and I kind of took it and ran with it. It turned out like this. Why do I enjoy torturing Zelda characters so?**


	17. Vengeance

:: |_ Theme __seventeen,_  
:: | Vengeance

* * *

: Rated K+ :

* * *

Endless white. That was all it was. There was nothing else but white - and the sensation of falling forever without pause. How long would this last? Would it ever end? Multiple times he had tried to break his fall or turn himself so he could see what was below him, but there was only white.

And then the monotony broke when a brilliant golden light pierced the air, so bright that it made the white realm around it seem dark. In the center of the light appeared a woman with smooth, tan skin and flowing hair as red as blood. Even with a deep scowl etched into her flawless features, she was still strikingly beautiful. _Beyond _beautiful.

"Ganondorf," she said in a voice simultaneously quiet and resounding; musical and lilting yet hard and cold.

The man glared up at her - or perhaps down, he couldn't even tell if she was above him or below him in this strange expanse of white - and he grimaced. He didn't need to ask who she was. He knew. _Din._

"There is no greater sin than the one you have committed," declared the woman, her entrancing voice echoing through his very soul. "You have disrespected my power and my very name. I allowed a gift to be given to you - and you spat upon it and upon my kindness. You spat upon my gift." She lifted a finger, delicate yet strong all at the same time, and pointed to the back of his hand where the mark of three golden triangles still glowed.

Ganondorf sneered. "Sin? _Sin? _I have not sinned. I have taken your power and used it to its fullest potential. You should be pleased!"

Din narrowed her beautiful red eyes. "You destroyed Hyrule. You destroyed the lives of all its denizens. I am _far _from pleased. You deserve nothing but punishment."

"And have I not been punished enough? Defeated by a mere child who is nothing but a shadow of myself!" Ganondorf spat, clenching his fists and trying to stand straight - but in the endless abyss of white, he could do nothing but fall.

She said nothing; she did nothing. She only stared and remained so still that she could have very well been a statue. And for the first time since she had appeared, she blinked, long black lashes brushing lightly against her smooth cheek for a single moment before flashing open again to reveal those piercing eyes of hers. "You were defeated because it was never your right to win. If only you would have used my gift for something better, then perhaps fate would have smiled upon you. But you chose this path. A truly regrettable choice indeed."

Ganondorf could feel his entire face twitching in hatred, lips drawing back into a snarl. "I chose the right path! You have no right to criticize me and my choices! What do you know?"

"I know all," came the simple reply from the red lips of the Goddess.

"No! You know nothing!" Ganondorf snarled viciously, glaring vehemently at her with blazing golden eyes. "I will have my vengeance on you, Din, and on your petty sisters. You may be a Goddess, but I have the power to deny you!"

As if she hadn't heard his dramatic declaration at all, Din said in a louder-than-usual voice, "My sisters and I are merciful. I will not take my precious gift from you - at least, not yet. I will give you one more chance to prove yourself worthy of it. Do not fail me." And without another word, she vanished in a burst of golden light, forcing Ganondorf to shut his eyes in a futile attempt to block the brightness.

Once it had faded, his golden eyes fluttered open again, and he stared down at the mark of the Triforce of Power on the back of his hand. With his face hard he whispered to no one but himself, "I will prove myself worthy of it, then."

The mark of the three triangles began to glow, brighter and brighter until it burned his hand. "I will show her that I am more powerful than even the Gods."

* * *

Women screamed. Children sobbed. The corpses of men lay strewn across the blood-soaked grass. And in the center of it all was a great beast, tall and dark and terrifying, clutching two golden swords in human-like hands. His horrible eyes watched as fires burned everything in sight, turning the sky black with smoke.

The people deserved their fate. And as the beast watched them suffer and burn, he felt not a single pang of pity for them; not a single shred of remorse for the agony he had caused.

Suddenly an ethereal, translucent figure stood before him, a tall woman with flowing red hair and eyes burning brighter than a ruby-red sun. Her entire being was surrounded by a golden glow; she was like a beacon in a darkened world. None of the fleeing women and children seemed to see her. She appeared only to the beast's eyes.

She greeted him in the same way she had greeted him so many years ago, when they had first met.

"Ganondorf."

The beast growled at her, a low, guttural sound. "Where is your hero now?" he bellowed, voice gruff and very deep, almost earth-shattering.

The Golden Goddess lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. "Yet again, you have proven yourself unworthy of my gift."

"Do you not see? I am _perfectly _worthy of it! Behold my power!" he snarled, waving a giant hand to the burning world around him.

Din scanned the scene before her, and her eyes seemed to soften with sadness when she saw all the destruction Ganondorf had caused. "This is not power," she told him, and though her eyes were pained her voice remained the same, strong and completely unwavering. "This is mindless destruction."

"It is not mindless! They deserved this!" he protested loudly, taking a step forward with bestial, fur-covered legs. Gesturing frantically to the fields surrounding him with a golden sword, he said, "They wallow in comfort and bliss while my people starve and fight, tooth and nail, for their survival! They do not deserve this! I am simply taking from them what was never rightfully theirs in the first place!"

Din returned her eyes to him, so red and so fierce that he actually stumbled backward a step. "It _is _rightfully theirs. And it is not your right to take it from them. Multiple times you have overstepped your boundaries, and _we_ have had enough."

Behind her, two other women appeared, equally as beautiful but each with different features - one had a much softer, pale-skinned face with ocean-blue eyes and hair of the same color cascading down her back; the other had more defined facial features and a stubborn look in her forest-green eyes. They said nothing, simply stared at the awful beast before them.

Ganondorf looked at each of them in turn - the three Goddesses, glowing with brilliant golden light - and as they shut their eyes and raised their arms heavenward, fear gripped his heart like a cold hand. What were they doing?

In a desperate attempt to stave off his fear, the beast pointed a sword at them and roared, "You pathetic Goddesses, favoring those who don't deserve any favor at all and ignoring the ones that most desperately need your help! I will fight you - fight you until I take my last breath! I will have my vengeance!"

Suddenly a terrible rumbling shook the ground, making the great beast stumble and pinwheel in multiple directions as he tried desperately to keep his balance, though the Golden Goddesses did not falter even once. They lowered their arms and all opened their eyes again, staring at him with soul-piercing gazes.

Ganondorf could only watch in horror as four great waves converged on every side of him, rolling and lurching and crashing straight toward him. Each wave was as tall as a castle and as dark as a stormy night. There was no escape.

Din breathed a great sigh, as if she were disappointed. "So you have chosen."

* * *

**A/N: Why did it take me so long to post a really short oneshot, you ask? Well, actually, I had a _totally _different idea for this at first. It was supposed to be a completely AU thing. I wrote it twice (and both times, it was pretty long) before I decided it just did not fit with the theme of vengeance. I feel like it'd work better with another theme. So I deleted both drafts of my AU oneshot and wrote this instead. So it's short, and strange, and late, sorry xP**

**Anyway, this is supposed to be a transition thing between Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker, I guess. It's... uh... well, it's interesting. Not sure what to think of it lol. But here it is anyway...**


	18. Love

:: | _Theme eighteen,_  
:: | Love

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

She stared down the moonlit path that cut through Ordon Village. Her mouth was set into a deep frown, and her blue eyes refused to leave the path. If she kept watching, maybe _he_ would return. Although she clung desperately to that hope, she was beginning to lose it.

Her husband stood by her side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. "Uli... this isn't healthy. You need rest."

He was right, she knew... and oh, how she desperately wanted to rest. But what if _he _returned while she was asleep? No, she had to stay awake, for _his _sake. She remained silent for quite a while, shutting her eyes and feeling the cold night breeze tickle her skin.

Her husband grimaced. "Uli, please, come rest. The nights are getting a bit cold. It isn't healthy for you to freeze out here."

Her eyes fluttered open again, and with a deep sigh, she shook her head. "I just... I can't, Rusl. I'm so worried for him." She looked up into his bright green eyes, and saw worry there too.

"I know. We all are. But won't you come to bed? You look exhausted."

His voice was kind and soothing, and Uli decided that maybe her husband was right. She nodded weakly, and he gently urged her inside with a hand on her arm. As she stepped toward her house, she couldn't help casting one last glance over her shoulder into the dark, cold night. If only things were the same as they had been only a little over a year ago.

_"Uli!" an excited voice called from down the path._

_The woman lifted her bright blue eyes away from her laundry and turned her gaze toward the source of the familiar voice. There, hurtling down the path toward her, was a very excited boy with a wide grin on his face. He skidded to a halt in front of her and brushed his dark golden bangs out of his azure eyes, still grinning. "Link? What is it?" Uli asked with a quiet laugh. She was glad to see him so happy, but... why was he?_

_"Rusl wants me to go to Hyrule the day after tomorrow!" His grin widened - if that was even possible._

_Speaking of Rusl, he came down the path behind Link, chuckling and shaking his head. He clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "If you can't tell, Link's rather excited about the whole thing." Uli's nine-year-old son Colin came down the path beside Link, eyes bright._

_Uli grinned as well. Their happiness was infectious. Slowly she stood, squeezing out the sopping wet tunic in her hands as she did so. Her large stomach slowed most of her actions and often soured her mood - pregnancy did that to a woman, she supposed - but she wasn't going to allow that to take away her happiness, especially not now. Not when Link was so full of joy that he was practically dancing from foot to foot. "I'm so happy for you, Link!"_

_Rusl instantly seemed to notice his wife's discomfort, since he took a step toward her with worry flickering across his features. "Do you need help with that? I could do the laundry for you."_

_"Don't worry about it, I'm finished anyway," she said, once more squeezing out the tunic she was holding before placing it in a wicker basket at her feet, already filled with damp clothing. She would hang them up to dry eventually, but first she wanted to speak with Link. _

_"Mom, can I go with him?" Colin begged, with those large puppy-dog eyes of his and his hands nervously twisting in the folds of his small shirt._

_She looked at her son with a sigh. "No, definitely not. Maybe when you're older."_

_Colin's face fell. She hated to see the disappointment in his eyes as he dropped them to his feet, but this was for the best. He was too young to venture so far from home just yet. _

_Link glanced down to Colin and smiled. "Don't worry about it, Colin, I'd be glad to take you across Hyrule when you're older, as your mom says." Even while he was trying to calm down a little and comfort the young boy beside him, his eyes glowed with excitement. He was way too happy about this trip._

_Before the conversation could get any farther, Uli said to the ecstatic sixteen-year-old Link, "Now, to prepare for your journey, there are a few things you must know to keep yourself safe. And you need to have plenty of provisions for the trip as well! Ah... I forgot to make deer jerky," she sighed, frowning at her forgetfulness. "But perhaps I could give you some dried fruit and a few canteens of water. And you can't forget plenty of salves, just in case you get hurt somewhere! I'll go fetch a few things, wait here."_

_Link laughed. "Uli, I'm not leaving yet, not until the day after tomorrow, remember? Don't worry so much. And besides, have I ever done anything stupid enough to get myself killed?"_

_Uli cocked a brow at him, and Rusl disguised his laugh as a cough._

_Link sheepishly lowered his eyes and shifted from foot to foot. "Well, there was that one time, with the wolves in the woods... but that was years ago. And that was only one time!"_

_"Wolves?" Colin asked incredulously, staring up at Link with wide eyes._

_Link awkwardly cleared his throat._

_Planting her hands on her hips, Uli said, "And what about the time you strayed too deep into Faron Woods and got lost in a tunnel?" Link grimaced and opened his mouth to interrupt, but before he could speak she stubbornly continued. "And the time you dragged Ilia along with you on one of your silly adventures and the two of you nearly fell off a cliff! If Rusl hadn't followed you two, you both would have died! Oh, and don't forget about the time when you badly wanted to learn how to swim, so you dived off into the lake without a moment of instruction and nearly drowned! And -"_

_Link waved his hands in the air and huffed. "All right, Uli, I get it, I'm a fool. But I'll be careful, all right? I'm much older and more responsible now, after all."_

_She tried to hide her smile. "Responsible?"_

_"I can wield a sword," he reminded her. "If any terrible creatures happen along my path, I can easily dispatch of them." He nodded his head once as if that settled the matter, and Colin nodded along with him._

_Uli sighed, trying to pretend to be flustered with him. "You know I only worry for your safety because I love you." It was true - Link was like a son to her. Despite the fact he wasn't even related to her at all, she and Rusl had practically raised him. If anything happened to him, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself._

_A small smile tugged at the boy's lips. "I know, Uli. Thanks." He glanced to Rusl, and the man grinned at him, causing Link to grin in return. "And thanks, Rusl, for giving me such an important task! You can trust me to deliver the sword to Hyrule safely, I promise!"_

_"I know I can trust you." Rusl chuckled. "And besides, I thought it would be good for you, to get out of Faron Province for the first time in your life."_

_Link nodded eagerly. "I'm going to tell Ilia and Fado. See you later!" he called excitedly, already bounding away in the direction of Ilia's home._

_"I'm going with him!" Colin declared as he scrambled along behind Link._

_"Remember to come back in time for dinner!" Uli shouted after them, shaking her head at their excitement. She turned to Rusl with a tiny giggle. "It's wonderful to see Link so happy! It was the right choice to send him off to Hyrule, dear."_

_Rusl chuckled again and bent down to pick up Uli's wicker basket filled with clothes. "I'm glad I did."_

_"Oh, dear, you don't need to worry about that," she said as she pointed to her basket._

_"No, no, let me take care of it," her husband replied with a sweet smile, holding the basket in one arm and placing his free hand on her back. "Shall we go inside? I could even prepare dinner if you'd like."_

_"I'll do that," she replied with a huff. "I can't be completely useless, can I?" The two of them laughed as they headed back inside their house._

"Mom?" The voice was quiet, and Uli almost didn't hear it. As she and her husband stepped across the threshold into their small, humble home, she lifted her eyes to meet her son Colin's. The poor boy looked exhausted - he had been watching his sleeping baby sister at his mother's request for Goddesses only knew how long, and Uli instantly felt guilty.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie, you can go to bed," she whispered with a strained smile on her face. She truly felt like she was losing her mind. Only a year or so ago her son, along with the other children of the village, had been kidnapped by monsters and dragged across Hyrule. Uli had still been pregnant at the time, and as such, she'd had to stay rooted at home just in case the baby decided to come at any given moment. It had been horrible to sit uselessly in Ordon Village, watching as Rusl constantly left in search of the children and came back wounded and disheartened without any idea as to where their son was or even if he was still alive. This, along with watching the other village women wail and sob over the loss of their children, was just too much to take.

Thankfully Colin had returned safely home only two months ago... but Uli's other son seemed to be lost forever. Of course Link was not her own flesh and blood, but she loved him like a son, and oh how she missed him. He was never seen in Ordon Village anymore. Shortly after the children had returned safely home, Link had returned as well. Ilia and the children had swarmed him, saying how glad they were that he was back. He had smiled and expressed that he was grateful they were all safe - but his smile had been forced and his voice hollow. Soon after that, he had helped Fado herd the goats one final time before he vanished, never to be seen again. It had been two months; there was no sign of him or his faithful horse Epona anywhere.

Sometimes Uli wondered if he was dead, but whenever that morbid thought came to her, she stubbornly pushed it away. He was fine - he had to be. She wouldn't believe anything else. But sometimes she doubted herself.

She watched as Colin yawned widely and sauntered off into his small room without another word. "Good night," she tried to say to him, but he had already collapsed on his bed and pulled the blankets over his small form.

Uli breathed a distressed sigh and sat beside her baby daughter's crib, watching the tiny girl's fingers twitch slightly in her sleep. Rusl gently placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. The two of them said nothing, but Uli understood he was very worried for her well-being. He knew of her constant stress and her fading hope. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, burying her face in her hands.

"It's fine," he said gently, giving her shoulder a light squeeze. "How about we both get some sleep? Goddesses know we need it." She glanced up at him to see him forcing a small smile.

After a moment's hesitation she gave a weak nod, and the two of them shuffled toward their bed. Uli collapsed into the bed without even bothering to change into her nightclothes, and she promptly fell asleep.

_Poor Epona looked just as exhausted as her rider as the two of them vanished around the corner, away from Ordon Village and into the woods beyond. Uli watched them go with a frown. It had been so long since she had last seen Link... and he hadn't even stayed for dinner. He'd simply given her a polite but tired greeting once he'd made sure Ilia and the children were safe, and then he'd set off again._

_"Where's he off to in such a hurry?" Rusl grunted, seeming to echo her thoughts._

_"He's going to be late for dinner," she mumbled absentmindedly._

_Rusl glanced down to his wife and searched her face. She knew her emotions were displaying openly on her face, but she didn't care. She was so relieved that Colin and the other children had returned home safely, but she was distressed at Link's sudden disappearance. He had only just returned! Where did he think he was going, with Epona's saddle packed with bags of food and canteens of water that would last for weeks? A terrible feeling of dread pooled in the pit of her stomach, and she gulped as she told her husband, "I'm going to fetch him. Stay here and watch the children, will you?" She gently pressed her baby girl into his arms. "I'll be right back, I promise."_

_His brow furrowed in concern. "I'll come with you."_

_"Please, dear," Uli sighed, "stay and watch Colin for me."_

_After a pause, he nodded in reply and said nothing as his wife hurried off through the dimness of dusk, the scant remaining light of the sun casting long shadows of trees across the village. She was afraid that she wouldn't catch up to Link in time. That he'd be gone by the time she reached the woods. That she would search through the darkness for hours and find no trace of him..._

_But she slowed to a stop, breath coming in ragged gasps, as she noticed him standing beside Epona right at the entrance to Ordon Spring. He hadn't even left the village proper yet! With a small smile of relief she trudged toward him, trying desperately to catch her breath as she went._

_Obviously Link heard her coming, because he glanced over his shoulder at her and watched, unblinking, as she approached. Once she came up by his side, she stopped and looked up at him. He averted his eyes. "Won't you come for dinner? Aren't you hungry?" she asked him softly._

_"Thank you, Uli, but no," he replied simply, still avoiding her eyes. He led his large mare into the spring and simply released her reins, then began absently stroking at her mane as she dipped her head to drink the spring water._

_Uli's smile vanished. "Are you all right?" she asked as she came up beside him again._

_Still he would not meet her eyes. "Perfectly so," he responded, a little bit gruffly._

_"Link." She spoke his name gently, comfortingly - the same way she spoke to Colin to soothe his cries whenever something terrible had happened to him. The way she would speak to a young, distressed child. "We've all missed you very much. I'm sure the other villagers of Ordon would love to see your smiling face. Colin would love to have you over for dinner. And wouldn't you like to meet Laura, my baby girl?" A smile crossed her lips again at the mention of her newest family member._

_"I saw her," he responded quietly, gently entwining his fingers in Epona's white mane. "She is beautiful. Congratulations."_

_Uli nodded slowly, her smile widening. "Then... won't you come back for dinner? I don't know where you plan to head off to with Epona's saddlebags packed so full, but don't you think it's better to stay here, safe in your home? You don't have anywhere to go, do you? Ilia and the children are all safe here in Ordon. You no longer need to fret over them. Come rest for the night with us, and eat."_

_"I don't have time for such trivial things," he snapped, his voice suddenly bitter. Uli almost reeled back, wide-eyed, at the sound of it._

_Finally he turned to look at her, and her heart dropped when she looked into his eyes. These were not the eyes of a sweet, happy boy. These were the eyes of a weary man who had seen far too much battle and pain. Oh, Link, what had happened to him...? The poor thing was only seventeen!_

_He must have seen the shocked look on her face, because he instantly lowered his gaze and stood still - so still that he looked very stiff and uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Uli, I didn't mean to. You don't deserve such treatment from me... I'm so sorry. I'm just..." He trailed off and lowered his head further, his golden bangs falling down to hide his eyes._

_"What?" she asked gently and quietly, as if she were speaking to a skittish animal._

_There was a very long pause after that one simple question. Link nervously shifted his weight and turned back to stroke Epona's mane. The mare looked at him with obvious concern in her warm brown eyes, and she hardly moved. It was as if, for a moment, time itself stood still. After a few more painfully long moments of silence, he lifted his eyes to gaze at the purple, twilit sky, and he gave a longing sigh. "She was with me every step of the way, no matter what. We suffered everything together. Without her I would have gone insane a hundred times over. But now that she's gone... I'm not sure I'm sane anymore."_

_Uli listened with a very confused look on her face, and plenty of questions running through her mind - questions like, _What happened to you? Are you all right? Will talking about it help ease the pain? Won't you please just come back to Ordon with the rest of us? Who are you talking about? _She decided on asking the latter. "Who is she?"_

_"I can't say," he responded instantly, lips pressed into a thin line. And then he swung himself into Epona's saddle and looked down at Uli with those strange eyes of his. They were still the same azure as they'd always been, but now they were the eyes of a stranger. She didn't know him much anymore. And she hated that realization. If only he would stay and tell her about all that had happened to him... she still loved him like a son, and worried so much for him. "I have to find her," he stated. His voice was almost determined - almost - but more than anything it was dull and tired._

_"No, Link, stay and rest," she practically begged. She was getting desperate. Where was he going? Who was he even looking for in the first place? And would he be coming back? "I can tell you're exhausted - don't deny it. It isn't good for you to push yourself like this."_

_"Thank you for your concern, Uli, but please don't worry." He gave her a very forced, very strained smile - so tiny it was almost unnoticeable. And without another word he urged Epona into a trot, away from Ordon Spring and into the woods beyond. _

_"Wait, Link!"_

_He didn't stop. She watched him leave with saddened eyes, knowing she could do nothing. He had made his decision, and he would stand firm in it, she knew. And she had her own family to tend to. With a deep sigh she turned and walked slowly back to Ordon Village, guided by the scant light of twilight._

Uli awoke in the dead of night when Laura's loud sobs began to echo through the small house. With blurry eyes, she groggily pushed the blanket away from her body and stumbled to her feet. Her movements disturbed Rusl, who grumbled something incoherent as he rolled onto his side to face her. "Uli?" he slurred.

She glanced to him with a yawn, wiping sleep from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she muttered, "go back to sleep. I'll care for Laura."

Rusl lightly shook his head and pushed himself into a sitting position. "I'll help," he managed to say, even though his voice was still slurred and he looked ready to fall over.

She couldn't help it - she laughed. It was a quiet, weak laugh, but still a laugh. Although their room was dark, lit only by the full moon outside, she could still see his exhausted face and his slumped posture. It looked comical, to say the least, but his groggy voice was what topped it all off. She didn't know why she found the situation so amusing. Maybe she was just tired. "You're so sweet," she managed to say after she released another large yawn mixed with a chuckle. "If you really do want to help, I suppose I won't refuse."

"Uh-huh," Rusl mumbled, getting to his feet to stand beside his wife. She stepped over to Laura's crib and gently cradled her baby in her arms. Humming a soft lullaby she rocked the child in her arms as her husband stood behind her, a faint smile on his face, and together they cared for their baby daughter through the night.

* * *

"Rusl, Colin!" Uli called, poking her head out the door of the house. "Dinner is ready!"

Her husband and son sat beside the stream that twisted through Ordon Village, the two of them silent as they held their fishing rods with lines cast into the water. They both glanced over their shoulders at the sound of Uli's voice, though, and Colin grinned. "Dinner!" he repeated happily, pulling his line from the water and carelessly dropping his fishing rod beside the stream.

Rusl frowned. "Wait, Colin! Don't just leave your rod there like that..." He smiled, and shook his head, pulling in his own line and setting his fishing rod beside Colin's. "All right, I guess we'll take care of them after dinner."

"Any success?" Uli asked as her son hurried inside, happily inhaling the scent of pumpkin and cheese stew.

"Not yet... but we'll catch a fish for dinner someday, mom, I promise." He looked up at her with a smile, and nodded.

Uli couldn't help but smile in return, and she bent down to hug him. "Of course you will, Colin. I'm so proud of you." He was growing up so fast. So much so that she was almost afraid... but not quite.

"Really?" Colin returned the hug, still smiling.

"Of course." Uli pulled herself away from him and stood up, then nodded at her son.

Rusl stood in the doorway with a grin for a moment before he walked forward, and he wrapped his arms around his wife as he passed by her. "Thank you for this delicious meal!"

"Shh," Uli hissed quietly, teasingly swatting his arm. "I just managed to put Laura to sleep."

"Oh. Sorry." Rusl lowered his voice to a whisper, and his grin widened.

"Besides," Uli huffed as she spooned the stew into three separate bowls and set them at the table, "you don't even know if it's delicious or not. You haven't tasted it yet."

"But your food is always delicious, mom," Colin declared cheerily as he climbed into a chair at the table and lifted a spoonful of stew into his mouth.

"Oh, thank you, Colin," she said with a wide smile as she sat down along with Rusl and tasted a bite of her own food. She blinked a few times and tilted her head, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "I suppose it isn't too bad."

Rusl didn't hesitate to gulp down a gigantic spoonful. "It's perfect," he said around yet another mouthful of the stew. "As usual."

"Yeah, it is!" Colin said with a grin.

Uli found herself glancing to the door, wishing desperately that Link would appear there and share this wonderful dinner with them. She truly did miss him - and frankly, she thought it was selfish of him to leave so abruptly without a proper goodbye to anyone.

But perhaps that was because he didn't want to say goodbye. He wanted to return. And someday, he would. She knew that. With a smile she turned her gaze back to the happy faces of her husband and son, and she took another bite of pumpkin and cheese stew.

* * *

**A/N: This is my longest one so far. xD**

**Hopefully this one was okay! While I wrote it, I noticed a lot of similarities between this and "Gateway" - both of them are from the POV of a motherly figure who is sad about Link acting all... angsty... xP So I really hope this one isn't too repetitive for you. Sorry ^^; ****Also it's late and I'm tired. Excuse any typos if there are any lol.**

**\- - Extra note: I started taking this 100 themes challenge for two reasons - 1) to get better at writing, and 2) because I was having writer's block for my full-length Zelda fanfic I'm currently working on. Now that I'm no longer having writer's block for the full-length one, updates to this little collection of oneshots will be a lot slower. I still fully intend to finish the 100 themes challenge, but it might take me a long time. Sorry! ^^;**


	19. Tears

:: | _Theme nineteen,_  
:: | Tears

* * *

: Rated T :

* * *

The large, glimmering ribbon-like form slithers beneath the surface of the deep pool, its white eyes ever watchful. It knows that its kin have been destroyed, stripped of their powers and carelessly cast aside in a dim, lackluster shadow of their former glory. It can sense the lack of its fellow spirits' presence in the world.

And now it can sense _him. _Yes... _he_ is coming. The one from the dark realm.

The snake-like spirit curls into a coil and bares its shimmering fangs as _his _footsteps echo through the cavern. The footsteps are quiet and rhythmic; hollow and droning. Slowly they grow louder and louder, until they come to an abrupt stop.

Though the spirit cannot see its enemy, it knows that _he _is standing right above the pool. Its muscles tense further as it prepares to lunge out of the water at its foe. And then it leaps.

But it cannot. It is frozen in place, and it knows not why. _What is happening? _it thinks to itself in a panic, attempting to thrash and squirm - but it cannot. It feels as if its body is wrapped in invisible chains.

And then, against its will, its giant form is lifted from the pool by an otherworldly power that is not its own. As its body breaks the surface, rivulets of water streaming through its glowing scales, its shimmering white eyes flick to _him._

He stands tall, even though the spirit is larger than him by far. Despite this fact, he stands fearlessly, his stance loose and his arm lifted. His hand is stretched toward the spirit before him, and for a moment, he holds this pose and allows his prisoner to inspect him.

The spirit says nothing to him. Instead, it squirms, trying to escape the man's grasp. It is futile. It can hardly move.

"Do not try to struggle, Lanayru," the man says, his voice cold like the edge of a knife. Though his face is covered by a grotesque mask, the spirit can hear an obvious smirk in his voice. "Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be. You know I will triumph in the end, and fighting me is useless."

Lanayru stops its attempts to thrash. Glaring at its foe with blazing eyes, it bares its serpentine fangs. _"You are wrong," _it states, proudly lifting its majestic head. Its voice echoes from everywhere and nowhere all at once, and its mouth does not move - as if its words come from the air or the cavern walls. _"You will never triumph. The Goddesses will never allow it."_

"Your petty Goddesses have nothing to do with me," the man snaps. "They cannot stop me!" And with a flick of his outstretched hand, he flings Lanayru across the cavern and into one of its walls. The spirit screeches as its body crashes into the stone, the wall cracking and crumbling beneath its great weight.

Then a terrible pain courses through its body, tensing its every muscle. It writhes and screams, the agony dulling its vision. But through its clouded eyes, it can vaguely see the dark figure of the awful masked man, clenching his hand into a trembling fist and twisting his arm. With each slight movement of his wrist, the spirit's pain intensifies. It thrashes violently, slapping the pool beneath it with its great tail and sending sheets of water spraying everywhere.

As the man clenches his fist tighter, Lanayru's skin slowly breaks away, and its bright blue blood dribbles out from its many fresh wounds. Still it writhes, unable to stop screeching in sheer agony. Its beautiful, shimmering scales tear away from its skin, and every inch of its body is deeply punctured by an unseen force. Its sky blue blood bursts forth in sheets, drenching the terrible masked man. He is heedless of the thick glowing liquid spraying into his face and dripping from his body. Still he holds his fist in the air; still he digs his fingers into his palm ever harder.

Lanayru's piercing screams transform into strange, sob-like wails. Faintly-glowing blue tears stream from its white eyes; with a flick of the man's other hand, the tears float away from the spirit and into the air before its horrid foe. Its sobs fade into quiet whimpers as its body is torn apart from the inside, until there is nothing left of it except its echoing, disembodied whines.

Finally the man lowers his fist, the tears of the innocent spirit floating in front of him and glowing with the fading power of light. He trembles as he flicks the spirit's blue blood off his hand.

_"You," _its voice echoes weakly through the cavern. _"The Goddesses... will not... show mercy. Prepare... for your demise... it is inevitable."_

The air begins to shimmer with a dark, ethereal power. If the spirit Lanayru still had its body, it would bare its fangs at the awful feeling. But it cannot move. Cannot do anything at all. Only its consciousness remains.

"Oh, the Goddesses." The man's voice shakes, but not from fear. From joy. The very air seems to turn orange, and the cavern is bathed in an otherworldly yellow light. The water of the spirit's pool turns an unnatural emerald green. Small black specks begin floating up from the ground; they come from nowhere and go nowhere. They simply exist. The man flicks a finger, and the spirit's blue tears float obediently behind him.

He takes a threatening step forward, and he chuckles. It is a horrible sound - grating and dark. "The Goddesses," he repeats, his voice pitched higher, as if he is on the verge of bursting into laughter.

The spirit Lanayru wishes it could shy away from him. Wishes it could close its eyes and ignore the masked man. Wishes it could have fought him.

"I have already destroyed your brethren," the man hisses, his voice suddenly dropping to a near-whisper. "Your precious land of Hyrule is bathed in Twilight. What can your Goddesses do about it? What can _you _do about it? You are _nothing."_

The masked man curls his fingers into a stiff, claw-like shape, and the spirit's blue tears vanish into thin air. It cries in protest as the last of its light disappears into nothingness.

"Your light is gone." His dangerously quiet voice is interrupted by a manic but short-lived laugh. It echoes sharply through the cavern for only a second, seeming like almost nothing more than a cruel nightmare. "You have no hope. I have won."

_"No!" _the spirit screeches frantically, its voice helpless and weak.

The masked man says nothing, only stands there, hands trembling with joy. And then without warning he vanishes into a flurry of black specks.

Long after he is gone, his single second of shrill, piercing laughter is the only thing that rings through the spirit's broken consciousness.

* * *

**A/N: F**un fact - this was originally supposed to be a super sappy, romantic, LinkxZelda Skyward Sword thing... but then I decided that I hate romance** and yuck, no way, I am not doing that. So I wrote this instead! 8D I know the Shadow Beasts are the ones that steal the light from the spirits, but I just had to write about Zant, okay...?****

****And uh... I lied when I said I don't like romance. I love romance, I've just been in a very non-romantic mood for the last two or so weeks. Thinking of romance right now makes me want to cringe, lol. Maybe I'll get in the mood for it later. And when I do... beware. xP**


	20. My Inspiration

:: | _Theme twenty,  
_:: | My Inspiration

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

What was the point of anything? Why save a world that had already fallen?

Link had been fighting for so long. He was exhausted - both physically and mentally. And he wanted nothing more than for the fighting to stop. But it couldn't. He had yet to awaken the final sage and battle Ganondorf.

That could wait until later, though. Or maybe never. Really, why should he fight Ganondorf if the world was already destroyed? There was no purpose to it. Hyrule was too far gone to be rebuilt again. So why save a dead land? Why should he care?

As he climbed the stone steps into Kakariko Village, his fairy companion fluttered next to his ear and said, "Hey! What are you doing? Shouldn't you be awakening the next sage?"

Casting a cursory glance to Navi, he sighed, "Later."

Through the glowing blue light that enshrouded her body, he could barely make out the irritated expression on Navi's tiny face. "Why later? Why not now?"

"I need to rest," he said quietly, followed by a wide yawn just to prove his point. As he entered Kakariko Village, he decided to completely ignore his fairy companion and focus on finding somewhere to sleep for the night. Or the next two nights. Or three, or four, five, six, seven nights... maybe more. He didn't care. It seemed he cared about nothing anymore.

The sun slowly sank over the horizon as Link passed beneath the archway that welcomed anyone and everyone to Kakariko. He could see Navi fluttering beside him, and she might have been saying something, but he wasn't listening. He focused only on walking to the other side of the village, where a tall lookout-like structure loomed over the village. A wooden ladder led all the way to the top of it; he climbed it with weak, tired arms and legs.

The moment he came to the top, he collapsed and curled up into a ball, completely ignoring his surroundings. He heard Navi sigh, but she said nothing to him. He could feel the heat of the setting sun beating down onto his back. It was so comfortable and soothing...

Despite this, he was restless. Although he had wanted so desperately to sleep, he found he couldn't. Whenever he tried to shut his eyes, they would flutter open against his will. With a deep sigh, he decided to give up on sleep for the moment, instead sitting up and gazing across the horizon.

The setting sun was more beautiful than he had seen it in a long time, he realized. The sky was a brilliant hue of pink, streaked with bright lines of shimmering gold. Fluffy clouds drifted lazily across the sky, their bottoms a soft orange. The entire land, as far as the eye could see, was painted in the colors of the brilliant sunset. The people of Kakariko scurried to and fro below him, enjoying the beautiful evening, talking and some of them even laughing.

They looked so happy. How could they be happy in such a horrible time? Why, when Ganondorf had ruined absolutely everything? How could they _ever _be happy?

And yet they were. As he watched them with a slight frown, he noticed Navi float up beside him. She stared at him for a moment before she asked, "Weren't you going to get some rest?"

Link watched the people below him, wondering why they were laughing, why they looked so happy, wishing he could laugh with them... They were like a ray of sunshine in the darkness of the ruined Hyrule.

Maybe Hyrule wasn't a fallen kingdom. These people obviously still had hope. And if he stopped fighting to save Hyrule, then their hope would be crushed. He owed it to them to keep going, as much as he didn't want to.

"Link?" Navi sighed, breaking him from his thoughts.

"I'm not tired anymore," he said simply, staring out over the horizon and admiring the setting sun for a moment longer before he stood up. His fairy companion gave him a questioning look as he climbed down the ladder of the wooden lookout tower and dropped to the grassy ground of the village.

Navi fluttered down beside him. He couldn't see her face too clearly, but it looked like she was smiling. "So then, are you going to get going?"

He watched as the happy, laughing people all slowly returned to their homes for the night. A soft breeze danced through Kakariko Village, toying with his hair. Link remained silent for a long time before he squared his sagging shoulders. "Yes."

* * *

**A/N: Oh goodness, I am so sorry for this. I didn't even really try. I mean, I kind of did, but... ironically, even though this theme is "My Inspiration", I had no inspiration for this xP I just kind of rushed through it because I'm excited for one of the upcoming themes, and I want to get to that one as quickly as possible, lol. So yeah... I'm really sorry for not even trying haha. Hopefully the next one will be better (but I make no promises, since I sorta lack inspiration for that one too)...**


	21. Never Again

:: | _Theme twenty-one,_  
:: | Never Again

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Getting lost in the terrible, maze-like Lakebed Temple was bad enough. Having a rude, sassy imp sneering at him every minute just made things worse.

For what felt like the millionth time, Link pulled the switch in order to make the staircase change position. Just glancing down the stairs and to the door at their base made him realize that wasn't where he was supposed to go. With a frustrated sigh, he turned around and tried to find a different switch.

"Still haven't found where to go, I see?" came a bored-sounding voice from his shadow.

Link held his tongue. Multiple times he had so desperately wanted to make a sarcastic remark in reply to Midna, but he refused to. Giving her an irritated response would only fuel her fire of sarcasm, and he did _not _want to start an argument with her.

"Maybe you could hurry things up a bit, because _really, _there's nothing interesting for me to do. Being in your shadow is kind of boring, you know..." Although he couldn't see her, Link imagined her apathetically inspecting her nails. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and instead pulled a different switch. Again, the staircase moved... and _again, _it was in the wrong place.

_Where do I move this stupid staircase to?! _Link thought to himself with an aggravated huff.

The little imp in his shadow giggled as he circled the room, discovered that a wall was blocking his path, and had to backtrack. "Keep working at it, Mister Hero! If you're lucky, you'll find out what to do in the next ten years!"

"If you actually _helped _me, maybe I could figure these things out sooner," he snapped, clenching his hands into fists and taking deep breaths to calm himself. How many hours had he been in this stupid temple, stumbling around the _same exact room, _trying to figure out which way to position the accursed staircase?

"I already do everything for you," Midna snorted. "Use your brain for yourself already."

Usually, Link was a patient person, not one to lash out at people, even if they irritated him. But Midna... Oh, Midna, he could not _stand _her. He had tried to put up with her - sometimes he even thought they had started to get along - but each time she started acting just a little nicer, she would revert to her usual intolerable self, making Link's rage boil inside him. "_You_ do everything for me? _Everything? _Tell me, who was the one who banished the Twilight from Hyrule, who has defeated plenty of beasts and solved countless puzzles in these ridiculous temples all just to find the pieces of the Fused Shadows you so desperately want?"

The imp snickered, leaping up from his shadow and folding her arms across her tiny chest. "And tell _me - _how far would you be without me?"

Link felt his cheeks blaze red with anger. "Farther than this!"

"Eee hee hee! Looks like someone's a little frustrated." She gave him an impish grin, her single fang poking from beneath her lips. "And for your information, if it wasn't for me, you'd still be rotting in a prison cell beneath Hyrule Castle, stuck in the form of a stupid beast. You'd better be grateful for my help!"

He _was _grateful she had freed him from that cell... And maybe she was right. Maybe he _would _be rotting away without her.

No. No way. If it weren't for her, he still would have figured out a way to escape... somehow. He didn't need her at all. She was more trouble than she was worth. "Yeah, thanks a lot. You're _so _helpful." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I'm glad you finally admit it," Midna said with a matter-of-fact nod, and one of her signature impish giggles. Then she dove into his shadow again - and though Link said nothing, he couldn't resist rolling his eyes.

For what felt like hours, he pulled different switches to try and get the staircase where it was supposed to go, all while Midna snorted at him and made plenty of scathing remarks about his level of intelligence. With each remark, he clenched his teeth harder and harder, trying not to say any of the rude things flitting through his mind.

Eventually Midna popped out of his shadow once more. With her hands planted on her hips, she floated only inches away from his face, her single visible sunset-colored eye narrowed. "Okay, I'm sick of seeing you stumble around like an idiot. Get a move on, lazy wolf! Pull that switch," and she pointed to it with a shadowy finger.

Link gave her a dull look. He said nothing, only obeyed her as she floated along beside him. Once he'd pulled the switch she had pointed to, the accursed staircase scraped across the stone walls as it slowly spun around the room. Once it had reached its destination, he climbed the stairs as quickly as possible, heading toward the door at the top of them. _I had better be nearly finished with this stupid temple, _he thought with a wide yawn, as he shoved open the door.

Beyond the door was a simple hallway, blocked completely by a huge waterwheel. It wasn't moving, either. There was simply no way to get past it.

Link's shoulders drooped. "_Sweet Golden Goddesses, _you've got to be kidding me."

Midna burst into uncontrollable fits of giggles. "Great job, Mister Hero! Look where you landed yourself - a dead end!"

"This is your fault! You told me to come in here!" he seethed.

"You're welcome!" she declared cheerily, staring cheekily at him with that stupid grin of hers. "Now, get back into the other room and figure out where you're _really _supposed to go, stupid wolf!"

"Remind me never to listen to your advice ever again," he mumbled below his breath as he turned around and headed back into the miserable, Goddess-forsaken staircase room.

* * *

**A/N: What can I say, I wanted to write about Midna being a sarcastic jerk. I love the fact that she and Link hate each other near the beginning of the game. It's just amusing to me for some reason.**

**Also, _please _tell me I'm not the only one that's had trouble with that stupid staircase in Lakebed Temple...? I have played Twilight Princess from start to finish _eight times_ just in the past year, and I _still _get lost in that room and don't know which switches to pull and where to change the staircase to! So irritating! xP**


	22. Online

:: | _Theme twenty-two,_  
:: | Online

* * *

: Rated T :

* * *

_Find him. Find him. Find him._

The words plagued her over and over again, never leaving her mind, refusing to give her a moment's rest. The rightful heir to the throne of Hyrule - the golden princess, the child of the Goddesses, the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom - shambled through the dark streets of her fallen country, her shaking hands stuffed into the pocket of a tattered black hoodie, her disheveled hair hanging down from beneath her hood in pale, greasy strands.

She felt disgusting. But she didn't care. She always felt disgusting. She knew no other way of life - ever since she had been a squalling babe, she had lived in and roamed the streets of an entirely different country with only her mother to protect and guide her.

_"You are a princess, my dear Zelda," _her mother would tell her on multiple occasions, all throughout her life - even when she was too young to understand speech. Then she would gently stroke the back of her daughter's right hand and smile - a sad, pained smile, and she'd say, _"These three golden triangles are proof of your royalty and your destiny to rule. But your throne has been usurped by an evil man, and only you and the hero can reclaim Hyrule."_

And when Zelda had finally learned to speak, she had asked her mother, _"Who is this hero?"_

_"I cannot tell you," _her mother had responded, shaking her head sadly. Zelda could still picture her mother's face - lips drawn together into a tight, thin line, her once beautiful blue eyes only dull and tired. _"But someday the Goddesses will show you a vision of him, and that is the day you need to set off in search of him."_

"And that's why I'm here," she mumbled aloud to herself at the memory, crystal blue eyes furtively searching the asphalt roads before her from beneath the shadow of her black hood. She spotted three women, dressed in black with bulletproof vests covering their torsos and handguns tucked neatly into holsters at their thighs, heading straight toward her.

The police. Surely they would ask Zelda who she was and what business she had, roaming the abandoned streets of Hyrule so far past curfew.

But the women hadn't seemed to notice her yet, so Zelda swiftly ducked into a nearby alleyway, hiding from the uncertain, flickering light of a streetlamp. She stood as stiff and as still as a board as the three women passed by without seeing her, their golden eyes glinting in the scant light and their long ruby-red hair swaying behind them with each step they took. Zelda waited for many long minutes after they had disappeared around a bend to make sure they were really gone, then she silently slipped out from the alleyway and continued through the streets.

She had worked hard to make it past Hyrule's border patrol unnoticed. She refused to let herself be seen after she had made it so far.

As her weak, trembling legs carried her further and further, she glanced up to the full moon, now at the apex of its climb into the black night sky. She wanted nothing more than to stop and sleep until the break of dawn, but she couldn't allow herself to do something so foolish. Surely someone would notice her if she dropped her guard for even a moment, and sleeping was the worst possible thing to do in a situation like hers. If anyone grew suspicious of her for even a second, she'd be in deep trouble. Of course nobody in Hyrule knew her face or even her name, because her mother had fled the country before her daughter was even born - but Zelda still couldn't afford to take risks. If anyone found out she was the true princess of Hyrule, then the evil King Ganondorf would execute her immediately. That much she knew. And she couldn't let that happen.

_Where is the hero? Where will I find him? _she wondered to herself, her thoughts growing more frantic as the hours passed and her vision blurred from exhaustion. _I need to find him!_

But she had no idea where he might be. She only knew his eyes - when she had seen him in a vision, the rest of him had been covered completely in shining silver armor. His face had been shadowed by a bright helmet, and only his eyes had peered out at her - beautiful yet cold like ice; dark and stormy as a tempest-tossed sea. At the sight of them, Zelda had been filled with hope - but now that she realized she had no idea where to find him, who he was, or even what his name was, her hope began to dissipate into the cold night air like the puffs of white breath that came from her lips each time she exhaled.

She wanted desperately to rest. Nothing appealed to her more at that moment than sleep's warm embrace. And with each stumbling step forward that she took, she realized that sleeping might not be such a bad idea. What good could she do if she could hardly walk? Rather sleep than allow exhaustion to overtake her at an inopportune moment.

So she found a dark alleyway behind two shoddy homes closely grouped together, with a pile of garbage in one corner. The supposed princess of Hyrule had no qualms about curling up in the pile of trash to hide herself from possible observers, ignoring the foul scent of garbage that threatened to make her retch. For a moment she mentally bemoaned her terrible life and the petty conditions she found herself in - her mother had always told her that princesses had plenty of responsibilities weighing on their shoulders, but bore them with dignity, and lived luxurious lives in grand, beautiful castles.

But Zelda didn't even have an inkling of what a luxurious life was supposed to be like. Her mother had tried to explain it to her on multiple occasions, but Zelda had never understood. The only things she knew were the streets and the alleyways.

And so the rightful heir to the throne of Hyrule - the golden princess, the child of the Goddesses, the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom - drifted off to sleep in a pile of garbage tucked away in the corners of a filthy alley.

* * *

It was still dark when Zelda awoke, her eyes flashing open instantly when she felt someone grasp her arm and haul her to her feet. Her heart lurched into her throat as she entertained the horrifying idea that someone, _somehow, _had discovered her identity as princess and was taking her to King Ganondorf to be executed.

When her groggy, blurry vision cleared, she managed to see her attacker - a large man with a scruffy beard and an ugly grin on his face. His breath reeked of alcohol, and she wrinkled her nose at the smell. She could tolerate the awful smell of garbage. But alcohol was something she despised with all her heart - she had seen it turn men that seemed perfectly rational into blubbering idiots. _Violent _blubbering idiots, at that.

"Well, ain't this a nice surprise?" the man chuckled, his words heavily slurred. "Why're ya in my backyard? Maybe 'cause ya wanna have some _fun?"_

A dark, ugly, stinky alleyway was his backyard? Zelda sneered at him, which only seemed to make the man angry. He grabbed both her arms and shook her, his lip curled in contempt. He cussed at her multiple times, and she desperately tried to squirm away from his grasp. Unfortunately, he was surprisingly strong, despite being drunk. "You're a filthy street rat, ain't ya? But that don't matter. I can clean ya up in no time... just come on in..." And he was back to chuckling again, dragging her toward the nearest house - which she assumed was his own.

Zelda's eyes widened in terror. She did not want to go in there. Who knew what terrible things he would do to her? But she was afraid to scream; afraid that whoever came to rescue her - if anyone did - would end up discovering her identity and have her executed. So she bit back her desperate urge to cry out for help, and instead squirmed and kicked at the man with all her might. It was to no avail. Although she managed to strike his thigh with her knee at one point, he simply swore loudly in response and smacked her head so hard that she saw stars dance across her vision.

And then from the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow flicker.

_What was that? _she thought frantically, whipping her head around in the direction she had seen the shadow. But the alleyway was completely empty; devoid of life save for herself and the drunken man.

Suddenly, the aforementioned drunken man grunted in surprise at the same time a strange shattering noise echoed across the walls of the alley. Zelda flicked her panicked gaze to him again, and saw his eyes roll back in his head. Then his grip on her fell slack, and he collapsed in a clumsy heap to the ground, revealing a figure standing behind him.

Zelda resisted the almost overwhelming desire to scream, utterly confused at the events, and very wary of the newcomer - despite the fact that whoever it was had saved her life. She clamped a hand over her mouth and stepped backward, her wide eyes focused on the shadowy figure. It was impossible to make out the figure's features - whoever it was, they were only a black silhouette against the dim background of the alley walls. She stumbled backward another few steps.

"I won't hurt you," the figure said, the voice distinctly male - deep and melodic but still notably young. The stranger took a step forward, lifting his hands with his palms facing her in a gesture of peace. In his left hand she saw a broken glass bottle, and she decided that was what the stranger had used to knock out the drunken man. He dropped it now and gently kicked it aside; it rolled across the pavement with the soft sound of glass scraping against cement. Zelda watched its path for a moment before she quickly returned her eyes to the stranger. He had taken another step forward into a slightly lighter portion of the alley, faintly illuminated by a nearby streetlamp. He wore a hoodie like hers - although, _not _like hers, it was dark green, and much less tattered and ugly. The hood hung over his head, obscuring most of his face in shadow - but she could still see his chin and mouth.

Zelda wished that her mother was by her side. She had no idea what to do in a situation like this. Of course, the stranger had rescued her, and he seemed peaceful enough, but she was still wary of him. She couldn't help it. "W-who are you?" she managed to whisper shakily when she finally found her voice again.

"I'll tell you if you return the favor."

She didn't like the sound of that. Her mouth twisted down into a deep grimace, and she remained silent for quite some time. The stranger waited patiently while she made her decision. She would tell him a fake name - just in case. So she nodded her head once in agreement to his terms, and thought she saw the corner of the boy's lips twitch upward in a smile that was gone as soon as it had come.

He flicked back his large green hood, revealing the face of a boy that looked about her age or maybe a little older - sixteen or seventeen or so. He had dark golden hair that fell a little past his shoulders, and messy bangs that he now brushed out of his face with his fingers. His facial features were somewhat sharp, and his skin slightly tanned. Long, pointed ears stuck out from either side of his head, pierced with plenty of earrings - a couple small sapphire loops here, a few golden studs there. None of that was what truly caught her attention, though. No, his deep blue eyes were what truly transfixed Zelda. They were beautiful yet cold like ice; dark and stormy as a tempest-tossed sea.

"I'm Link," he stated simply. "And now it's your turn. You are...?"

She hardly heard him, for her thoughts were too chaotic and her heartbeat too erratic. _"You!"_ She only realized she had spluttered the single word when it was too late to stop it from coming.

He cocked a brow. "That's an odd name." His voice was tinged with annoyance.

Zelda blinked at him in shock. Why didn't he seem surprised by her strange outburst? Did he know about her, too? No, impossible... She was hoping for too much. Perhaps this young man wasn't even the hero; perhaps she was mistaken. But she shook her head, not even realizing she was doing so. His eyes were unmistakable, the same ones she had seen in her vision. This was him. "Show me your hand," she demanded, surprised at her own boldness. But she had to see his hand. If he truly was the hero, then surely she would see the mark of the Triforce of Courage there.

Instantly she saw his eyes widen in surprise, and he demanded, "Why?" as he tugged down his left sleeve to hide the back of his hand.

Zelda stared down at his left hand, covered by the long green sleeve of his hoodie, and she repeated the same words Link had said to her not long ago. "I won't hurt you."

He pressed his lips together into a thin line. "You're a pushy one, aren't you? You haven't even introduced yourself yet, and you're demanding to see my hand for some reason. I just want to know your name, is that too much to ask?"

"Yes," she replied sharply. She was sure by now that this young man was truly the hero shown to her in her vision, but she had to be sure. She had to know. She had to see his hand. "Please show me," and she looked pleadingly into his mesmerizing eyes, hoping to sway him.

He narrowed his eyes at her, and studied her face for so long that she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. She resisted the urge to drop her eyes or nervously shift her weight, and instead she held his gaze until he was the one that averted his eyes. "I can't," he said stubbornly, and Zelda bit back a scoff of impatience. She had traveled all the way to Hyrule from a different country - on foot - and she had endured countless tribulations in her seemingly hopeless quest to find the hero. And here she was, possibly standing in front of the very hero in her visions, and he refused to work with her. Without warning of any kind, she reached out and grabbed his left hand in her right. At first he gasped in surprise and tried to jerk away from her, but when she pushed back his sleeve and the backs of their hands started to glow faintly in the dimness of the alley, he froze. His eyes lingered on the back of his left hand, his expression incredulous, and Zelda smiled as she saw a familiar golden mark there, glowing on his skin - a mark of three golden triangles.

"It really is you," she muttered, and she thought she felt a tiny smile on her lips. But she couldn't be sure - it had been a long time since she had smiled last. Finally she spoke her name. "I'm Zelda."

Link didn't seem to have heard her. He was still staring at the backs of their hands, the golden marks there glowing softly. He frowned and pulled his hand away from hers, quickly covering it with the sleeve of his green hoodie once more. "How... did you know?" He nervously ran a hand through his messy dark golden bangs, and still refused to meet Zelda's eyes. "This is dangerous, you know that, right? I've tried to keep that stupid thing hidden for my whole life."

"You don't need to hide it anymore," Zelda told him earnestly, unable to contain her excitement at the fact that she had finally met the hero that would help her return Hyrule to its former glory. She didn't know what a beautiful, peaceful country it had been before Ganondorf had taken over, but all she knew was that she wanted it back. She had lived on the streets her whole life; that was all she knew. But she wanted something different. And the wonderful country her mother had described to her was the only hope Princess Zelda had to cling to - even though she had never seen it for herself.

"You're the princess, then - the one that really should be sitting on Hyrule's throne, not Ganondorf." His words caught her off guard, and she stared at him with her brow furrowed in confusion.

"How did you know?" she asked him cautiously. "Nobody should know who I am. Mother fled Hyrule before I was even born. Nobody here should recognize me. So why do you? For that matter, why are you here in the first place? How did you find me?"

"Nothing. Forget I said anything."

She wanted desperately to question him further - to push him until he broke and told her everything that he seemed to be hiding. But before she could utter another word, Link's gaze flicked to the streets behind her, and instantly his eyes were filled with panic. Zelda managed to get one glance over her shoulder to see what had caused him such distress - three red-haired, golden-eyed police women, patrolling the dark streets - before he grabbed her arm and tugged her into a dark corner of the alley. He said nothing, simply stood as still as he possibly could, and Zelda was intelligent enough to follow suit, knowing that any small movement might attract attention. She hardly dared to breathe, and she certainly couldn't turn to look and see if the police had departed yet. She was facing the dark wall of the alleyway, and it would be far too risky to glance over her shoulder to see if they were gone, since that one simple movement could draw attention to herself. Her only hope was to wait for Link - who was facing the streets - to tell her when it was safe to move again.

After what felt like hours of heart-pounding silence, Link finally released his grip on her arm and heaved a long sigh of relief. "They're gone... Goddesses, imagine what would have happened if they would have found us out after curfew. And if they figured out what we were taking about..." He shook his head and breathed another sigh of relief. "Thank the heavens they're gone."

Zelda finally felt free to turn around and face the streets, and she was glad to see them totally abandoned. The night was utterly silent - almost chillingly so. She glanced up to the moon in the sky, slowly climbing down over the horizon to allow the sun to rise in its wake. It was a beautiful night - though perhaps it was beautiful in an eerie way.

She was rudely broken from her thoughts when Link huffed at her, "But sweet Farore, you need a bath! You smell terrible!"

* * *

It turned out that Link was two years older than her - eighteen - and he lived on his own in a small apartment. He showed her to his bathroom and gave her a clean towel and a change of clothes, apologizing that they'd probably be too big for her since they were his own clothes. But Zelda didn't mind. She thanked him profusely and hurried to shut the door and lock him out so he wouldn't see her strip down and climb excitedly into the shower. She had only ever showered once in her life - when a kind old woman invited Zelda and her mother to eat dinner with her in her apartment. The old lady had said they'd have to clean themselves up first, though, and she'd allowed them to use her shower.

It was a miraculous invention, pouring out warm, luxurious water. Zelda was accustomed to bathing in cold rivers whenever she could venture far enough away from home to find one, and that was never a pleasant experience. So when she pulled the knob and gloriously hot water poured down on her, she found herself smiling in bliss.

After very thoroughly cleaning herself, she stepped out of the shower, water dripping from her body into puddles on the bathroom floor. She scrubbed herself dry with the towel, then donned the clothes Link had given her - a simple blue T-shirt and a pair of jeans. As he had said, they were far too large for her, but she didn't care. They were clean and comfortable. She relished in the feeling.

With a faint smile on her face that she didn't even know was there, she stepped outside the bathroom, only to see Link sitting on his carpeted floor, staring at the bright screen of a laptop. His green hoodie was cast aside, and he wore a simple sleeveless white shirt. On his right arm, an intricate tattoo ran from his elbow to his shoulder, gold and black spirals of complicated, curling patterns. She stared at it for a moment, wondering why some of its designs looked so familiar - but she was broken from her thoughts when he glanced up to her. "Feel better?" he asked.

Zelda ran a hand through her long, wet hair, her fingers tangling in her damp, pale locks. She nodded once in response. "How did you find me?" she asked.

Link frowned. "What?"

"In that dark alleyway. It's the middle of the night, past curfew no less. What was your purpose for being there in such a strange place and at such a strange hour?"

His frown deepened. "You're not one for idle conversation, are you? It's just straight to the point with you." He raised a brow.

She simply smiled faintly in response, and hoped she was performing the expression properly. It had been a long time she she had truly smiled. "You know who I am. And you knew where to find me. How?"

He pressed his lips together in a thin line and shut his laptop, then gently pushed it aside. "How did _you _know _me?"_

Zelda blinked in confusion. "What?"

He shrugged lightly. "You knew me - that much was obvious by the way you reacted when you met me. But I've never seen you before in my life."

She swallowed nervously. Surely he'd think her insane if she told him the truth. But she couldn't lie to him, either. If he truly was the hero - as evidenced by the Triforce of Courage on the back of his left hand - then she would need to put her trust in him. And hopefully he could return the favor. So she steeled herself, drawing herself up to full height and anxiously clenching and unclenching her fists. "I had a vision."

He only stared at her. Zelda's heart skipped a beat, and she wanted to shut her eyes and hide from the insults that he was surely going to throw at her. But instead, he said, "Really?" The simple word was genuine - not sarcastic or disbelieving.

"Yes," Zelda continued cautiously, her voice quiet. "I had a vision of you, standing in the fallen country of Hyrule, and I came to find you."

"Huh, that's interesting, because... I might have had some of those vision-y things too..." He trailed off awkwardly, looked away, and cleared his throat loudly. "I mean, maybe. It might have been nothing. Probably nothing at all, actually. Yeah." He was obviously very uncomfortable speaking about the subject, but Zelda pressed him further nonetheless.

"What were they about?" she asked eagerly, dropping to her knees so she could sit beside him, and she searched his face.

"Well..." He nervously scratched at his cheek, and, still avoiding her eyes, he continued in a quiet voice. "For the past few weeks I've been having weird dreams of a girl who's the rightful queen of Hyrule. They got more and more vivid as time passed - it got to the point where I could see every detail of the girl's face. She looked exactly like you, by the way, that was I how I knew you when I saw you. Anyway -" He cleared his throat again, and nervously picked at a loose thread on his shirt - "just tonight I had a dream that you were in an alleyway, being attacked by some random guy. The dream felt so real and urgent that... uh, I knew I had to hurry and find you as quickly as possible. So... I did," he finished lamely. A short pause ensued before he added in a very embarrassed mumble, "Think I'm insane yet?"

Zelda glared at him. "I just told you I had a vision, too. Does that mean you think _I'm _insane?"

He finally lifted his eyes to hers, and a tiny smirk crossed his lips. "Maybe we're both insane."

"Hmm." She couldn't help a small smile in response. She was actually _smiling _again, and after so long a time. The feeling was most decidedly a pleasant one. But she forced it away from her lips and told Link, "We are not insane. The Goddesses have given us these visions so that we could find each other. I need to reclaim the throne of Hyrule - and you need to help me."

Link's eyes widened, and he shook his head vehemently. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down!" He grunted loudly, still shaking his head, and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "That's a pretty bold statement, you know... Pretty treasonous, too." He cast a furtive glance around his small apartment, as if King Ganondorf himself were listening. "Can't you... I don't know, quiet down a bit?" He lowered his voice to a whisper as he spoke.

Zelda stared at him with her eyes full of determination. "You are the hero." He snorted derisively in response and started to open his mouth to speak - no doubt to deny her statement - but she interrupted him before he could even begin. "Don't even try to say you're not! Look at the back of your left hand. Isn't that proof enough?"

That silenced him. He pressed his lips together and stared at her for a long moment, and neither of them uttered a word. Finally, he broke the stillness. "You're a really strange girl, you know that?"

She brushed his comment aside with a small, almost imperceptible shrug. "Please... Will you help me?"

He sighed deeply. "This is all moving too fast for me. Look, I just met you. _Tonight. _I'm not ready to go happily flittering off and dethroning King Ganondorf for you right now."

Zelda huffed in exasperation, slightly disturbing a still-damp lock of hair in front of her face. Who knew that the Chosen Hero of the Goddesses would be so reluctant to fulfill his destiny? Truth be told, she had expected him to be much more... cooperative. "Please, Link. I know we just met, but I had a vision of you - and you had visions of me, too. That is no coincidence. Visions are not trivial things. I have this mark -" She lifted her right hand to show him the Triforce of Wisdom - "and you have that one." She pointed to the back of his left hand, where he bore the Triforce of Courage. "These are the marks of an important destiny. They are not to be ignored."

He shifted his weight uncomfortably and scratched at his cheek again, averting his eyes. Seeing that he was thinking on her words, she decided to give him one last push. "I have been living on the streets my entire life, Link. The streets of a foreign country, far away from my home and my throne, hiding from the man that usurped it from me. My mother was the only one there to care for me. She taught me everything I know - she taught me about kindness. About how to love and care for my people. About Hyrule's beauty and its fair laws and how wonderful it was before Ganondorf took over. My whole life I have been preparing to take up my throne again. I have been nothing more than a street rat since I was born, but all my life I knew that I was destined for something far greater. If only I could reclaim my throne, then Hyrule would be a fair, peaceful country once more. Please -"

"But what do you know about ruling people fairly?" he interrupted. "You said it yourself - you've been a street rat your whole life, living in a foreign country. What do you know about Hyrule and her people?"

Zelda furrowed her brow. "I told you, my mother taught me -"

"Yeah, but you don't have any experience ruling a country, do you? How do I know Hyrule would be any better off with you sitting on that throne instead of King Ganondorf?"

Zelda's jaw dropped, and her eyes widened. Her heart clenched in grief and anger. How dare he even say such a thing - how dare he even _think _it! She very nearly lashed out at him in frustration, but with a great deal of effort she managed to hold her tongue. It would not to do antagonize the man that was supposed to be her hero. She needed him to trust her. So she bit her lip and refused to speak until she was sure that her words would not be offensive. "I... I don't have experience ruling, you're right. But I can assure you that I'd be a better ruler than Ganondorf by far. If the things mother has told me about him are any indication, then he is a man wicked beyond belief. I'm not evil. I would love my people, and care for them. I would be a fair queen."

Link stared down at the floor in silence and shifted his position, straightening his legs out in front of him and leaning his back onto the wall behind him. He seemed to be deep in thought, and though Zelda desperately wanted to urge him to aid her in her quest to reclaim her throne, she remained silent and allowed him to ponder his fate. Finally, he sucked in a breath through his teeth and released it in a heavy, reluctant sigh. "Look, I'll sleep on it, okay? It's really late, and I'm exhausted. I'm sure you are too."

She was truly exhausted, but she cared more about Link's answer than getting any sleep at all. Yet, if he refused to tell her until he had slept, then what purpose was there in pressing him further? So she gave in and nodded once in response.

He smiled faintly at that. "Okay, then, you can have the floor. Good night." He stood up and brushed off his pants.

Zelda only nodded again, her lips pressed together in a thin line. She was used to sleeping in the streets. The carpeted floor of an apartment was bliss compared to the pile of trash she'd slept in earlier that night.

Link cocked a brow at her. "I was joking! Do you even have a sense of humor? Goddesses..." Shaking his head in disbelief, he crossed the room and collapsed onto a soft-looking leather couch. "You can take my bed. I'll sleep here." He pointed to a closed door on the other side of the apartment room. It led to his bedroom, no doubt.

She blinked disbelievingly at him. "Me? Take your bed?" He nodded a couple times as he settled down, wrapping a blanket around himself that he pulled up from the ground beside the couch. Zelda shook her head. "I couldn't possibly..."

She trailed off when he grumbled something in irritation under his breath and turned on his side so that his back was facing her, and he pulled the blanket up over his head. "Good night," he insisted.

Taking the hint, Zelda smiled at him again - though he couldn't see it - and she said a quick but genuine "thank you" as she went to the door and pried it open as quietly as possible so as not to disturb Link's rest.

* * *

The divine scent of cooking food filled Zelda's nostrils and drew her out of sleep's warm embrace. Her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself in a small but plush bed, wrapped in blankets as comfortable as clouds. The pale rays of the morning sun filtered through the drawn curtains of a tall window nearby, filling the room with gentle light.

_Where am I? _Zelda wondered. And then after a moment of disorientation, she remembered the events of last night - meeting Link, speaking to him, and then taking his bed and sleeping in it... She felt so selfish, slumbering in such a comfortable thing while Link slept out on the couch.

She threw the blankets off herself and heaved herself out of bed, yawning widely in the process. She was still thoroughly exhausted, since she had probably only slept for a couple hours at most. But the delicious smell of food was too enticing to ignore, so she found herself walking out of the bedroom and into the kitchen almost without realizing it.

There she found Link standing in front of his stove, peering critically at something frying in a pan. A pancake, she realized. Oh, it looked and smelled so perfect! Her mouth began to water, and soon she was standing as close to him as she dared, watching the edges of the pancake begin to brown. The top of it was still raw, which indicated that it had yet to be cooked on that side.

Link glanced up at her for a moment, and with a smile, he said, "Watch this." He lifted the pan off the stove and flicked it upward, sending the pancake sailing up into the air. He quickly moved the pan a little to the left in an attempt to catch the pancake, but it flew far away from him and landed with a soft _splat _on the ground. He stared down at it in dismay and embarrassment, and awkwardly cleared his throat. "Oh. Well, never mind."

Zelda actually giggled - giggled for the first time in what had possibly been years. Link sighed deeply and shook his head. "I'll clean that up later," he mumbled to himself, spooning another bit of pancake batter into the pan and watching as it slowly flattened out and made faint sizzling noises.

A silence passed between them then. At one point he opened his mouth to say something, but she spoke first. "So did you think about what I said last night?"

Link grunted irritably and flipped the pancake over - this time he did it carefully, with a spatula, to make sure he didn't drop it on the floor. "For the love of Nayru, princess... do you think about _anything _else?"

Zelda dropped her eyes. "I'm sorry, I just need to know -"

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry," he interrupted, slightly shaking his head. "You're stressed out about this whole situation." She nodded in response, and he sighed. "I am too. And... I know that something needs to be done about King Ganondorf."

Her heart flew at his words, and she smiled hopefully. But she did not wish to have her hopes crushed, so she tried to quell the jubilant feeling that threatened to overtake her. Since she failed miserably and couldn't seem to wipe the smile off her face, she desperately tried to find something to occupy her mind. Sitting atop Link's counter was a roll of paper towels; she ripped a couple of them off and knelt down to clean up the fallen pancake. "Oh?" she asked, urging him on, trying to keep the eagerness out of her voice.

"Yeah..." He said nothing other than that, and she gritted her teeth against the urge to shout at him and tell him to hurry up and spit it out. She grew weary of his reluctance to do anything at all. Then again, she supposed she had just met him the night before, and it would be difficult for anyone to simply jump up and accept her request. It was a difficult request to accept, after all. From her peripheral vision she noticed him nervously shifting his weight, then he finally spoke. "I really don't like King Ganondorf. I don't think anyone does. Well... okay, maybe there are a few weirdos out there who think he's the greatest guy ever, but those people are the power-hungry ones that probably get something in return for serving him." His tone was bitter and angry. "Anyway..." He paused to take a deep breath. "I know something needs to be done. But what? What can we do? Do you have a plan?"

"Yes, actually, I do," Zelda responded immediately, standing up and throwing the paper towel-wrapped pancake remains into the garbage. She grabbed a couple more paper towels to clean up the excess mess on the floor. The entire time, she felt Link's eyes boring into her back.

"Oh?" he asked, and she smiled when she heard the exact same tone of feigned casualness in his voice that she had used only moments earlier.

She nodded, throwing the paper towels in the garbage and inspecting the floor to make sure it was clean. It seemed to be. "We find the Master Sword and we defeat Ganondorf."

Link snorted. "You make it sound as if it's going to be easy." He shook his head in response, and handed her a plate. She realized it had a pancake atop it, and that another one was already sizzling in the frying pan. He motioned with his head to the other side of the small kitchen. "Syrup's in the fridge."

"Thank you." Zelda crossed to the refrigerator and pulled open its door, scanning its contents in wonder. Refrigerators were such a miraculous invention. She wished she'd had one, but it wouldn't have worked anyway. Living in the streets, there was nowhere for it to be plugged in and receive power. As she fetched the beautiful, sweet-looking syrup, she said, "No, it won't be easy. But it needs to be done."

He stared at her with doubt written all over his features. "Can't we just barge in there with a few guns and shoot him down? Aren't swords kind of... I don't know, outdated?"

Zelda shook her head vehemently. "It is the only thing that can defeat Ganondorf. He wields the Triforce of Power. If we tried to face him with such average weapons, he would easily be able to swat us aside as if we were gnats. No, we need magic to combat magic. And the Master Sword holds a magic so ancient and powerful that even Ganondorf's Triforce of Power won't be able to resist it."

"Huh." Link raised a brow - she wasn't sure if the expression was sarcastic or curious. So she ignored him and poured syrup all over her pancake as he flipped a pancake of his own onto his plate. After she was finished with the syrup, he took it from her and poured just a little bit of it on his own food - much less than she had used. "And... where do we find this Master Sword?"

"That's the problem," Zelda replied hesitantly, flicking her gaze away from his. "I don't know."

"Well, that's just freaking wonderful," he groaned.

"But we still have a chance," she persisted, moving to sit on the floor. In front of her, Link's laptop still sat where he had left it the night before. It was shut.

He sat down beside her, handing her a fork - and just on time. She had been on the verge of eating her messy, sticky, syrup-drenched pancake with her hands. She was starving. "And what's that chance?" Instead of answering, she started to pull his laptop toward her, but stopped when he snapped, "What are you doing? You'll get syrup all over it! Just leave it be."

"It'll be fine," she huffed impatiently, opening the laptop. Its screen flickered on, and her face fell in disappointment when she saw that her progress was halted by a screen that demanded her to _ENTER PASSWORD._

Link chuckled and stuffed his face with a bite of pancake. With his voice slightly muffled by a mouthful of food, he said, "Here, lemme see." He pulled the laptop toward him and started to type in his password, but when he realized Zelda was watching him intently, he gave her a sideways glance and huffed, "Don't look." She obeyed with a long sigh, and heard him hammering away at the keys for a second before he said, "All right. What did you want my laptop for?"

Immediately her eyes went to his screen. His desktop background was a series of strange curling patterns in gold and green and blue, not completely unlike the tattoo on his arm. She pointed to the internet icon, and with a frown, he drew his laptop further away from her. "Don't touch it with your sticky hands," he grumbled.

"My hands are not sticky." Her voice was short and impatient, and she pointed to the internet icon again. "Search for this - _where is the Master Sword."_

"Like that'll do anything," he sighed, but opened the internet and typed in the words anyway. He tapped the _return _key, and almost instantly the screen flashed with plenty of results. Link scrolled through a few of them, frowning thoughtfully and reading through a few results before flicking his gaze to a different one. "They're all urban myths."

Zelda shrugged as she finished off her pancake. "At least they give us something of a lead."

He met her eyes, and pressed his lips into a thin line. "According to all these myths, the Master Sword is with either with the Zoras or the Gorons - and both races reside all the way across the continent. The Zoras in the ocean, and the Gorons in the mountain range all the way over there." He motioned in the general direction of the mountains, though of course they couldn't be seen from where Link and Zelda sat.

She met his gaze, her own eyes full of determination. "We have to try."

"Sweet Farore." He brushed a hand through his messy dark golden hair and grimaced. "Are you always this persistent?"

She smiled. "Yes."

"Great. Good to know, princess." He shut his laptop.

"You _can _call me Zelda, you know..."

He dropped his gaze to the floor and studied it, picking at random threads of carpet with a blank look on his face. "Fine. Zelda. Look, I don't know what to do. I guess we could travel all the way across the continent and speak to both the Zoras and the Gorons and ask them if they know where in the name of the sweet Golden Goddesses the Master Sword is, but I doubt we'll find it. And even if we do, that isn't our biggest problem. Ganondorf is surrounded by the thick walls of his castle, and protected by countless security cameras and guards and electric fences and... other stuff like that. How do we get past all that? We can't. It's not possible. Why even bother...?"

Her heart dropped. He had no hope. She felt her eyes moisten with tears, and it took every fiber of her willpower not to burst into sobs. She had finally found the hero. She finally had a chance to reclaim her throne. She finally had a chance to live somewhere other than the streets. She finally had a chance to fulfill her mother's wishes of returning Hyrule to its former glory. She was so close - and she couldn't continue simply because her hero had no hope. "Please, Link..." Her voice cracked, and she quickly averted her eyes and bit her lip in embarrassment. She felt his eyes on her; she wished he would look away and let her cry.

_No. I'm a princess. I need to be strong. That's what mother taught me... _So she took a deep, shuddering breath, wiped her eyes, and pushed onward. "It's my only hope. It's the only thing I've clung to for all the sixteen years of my life. Ever since I can remember, my mother told me stories of the hero - the hero who would aid me in my quest to restore Hyrule to its former glory. You don't even know -" Here her voice cracked yet again, and tears began to stream down her face, but she continued, heedless of them - "how much I longed to meet you. How long I sat in those filthy streets, night after night, day after day, telling myself I was a princess, that someday my miserable life would get better..."

At the sight of her tears, Link looked very uncomfortable, and held out a hand to her uncertainly, as if he weren't quite sure of what to do to comfort her. "I'm sorry, but -"

She interrupted. She didn't even care that she was sobbing, that her voice was high-pitched and ugly, and that her face felt hot and wet and disgusting. "And when my mother was sick and dying, dying because of how filthy the streets were, dying because I had no medicine to give her, do you know what I thought? I thought you'd magically appear one day and save her. You're the hero, after all. I didn't even know what you looked like or who you were, but I clung so tightly to the hope that you would save my mother. You didn't."

He furrowed his brow. "That's not my fault -"

"I know it isn't!" she snapped, immediately irritated by her lack of composure. She took quite a few deep, shuddering breaths in an attempt to calm herself. "I'm sorry... You couldn't have done anything. I know. But I was naive, and I had hope. I... I still do." She met his deep blue eyes, and composed herself, forcing back her sobs and her tears, and she wiped her tear-streaked, red face with her arm. "I always had hope in the hero. I had no idea who he was, but I believed in him, and that I'd meet him someday and that he'd help me." For a long moment she paused, searching his face. "Will you?"

Link averted his eyes and nervously fingered his earrings for a moment, seeming to ponder her question. She saw his jaw tighten, and after a silence that seemed to stretch forever he said, "Ganondorf... is the worst ruler this country has ever seen. Everything he does in unfair. I guess it's time to see him dethroned." There might have been a slight smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

Her heart skipped quite a few beats; she tried unsuccessfully to disguise her smile. "So...?"

"So I guess I'll help." He looked at her again, and heaved a sigh as he saw that her face was still wet and tear-stained. "Let me get you a tissue," he mumbled, standing up and grabbing a package of tissues from his countertop. He handed her one, and she accepted it gratefully, dabbing at her wet nose and cheeks.

He sat beside her again and sighed again, slowly running a hand through his hair. "Look... Zelda. I'm not sure how committed I am to this, or even if I have any hope of succeeding at all. But I'm at least willing to give it a try - because _holy Din, _I'd love it more than anything to see Ganondorf rotting away in a prison cell." And that time, Zelda could tell that yes, Link was definitely smirking.

Her heart soared, and she didn't even try to stop herself from grinning widely. She allowed a small, relieved laugh to escape her lips as she kept dabbing at her wet cheeks with the soiled tissue.

Perhaps she really could become more than just the filthy princess of the streets.

* * *

**A/N: Holy sweet flying Nayru on a unicorn, _it's done._**

**8,000-some-odd words. My longest by faaar... Sorry it took so long. I actually had a totally different idea for this. I wrote it, hated it, deleted it, started over, and repeated the process again. When I deleted it the second time, I was so discouraged and writer's blocked that I just kind of gave up and took a few weeks to get started on it again. So. Sorry ^^; I've been writing stories since I was six years old, and this is seriously the first time I've tried something modern. ...Well okay, so I tried to write something modern when I was like 7, but that doesn't count. xP I'm used to stories inspired by Medieval times, if you can't tell, so this was very difficult for me.**

**Anyway, since this is kind of like a mini-novel with its own weird AU plot and everything, I think I'll probably continue it at some point. I really want to develop this version of Link - I have a backstory for him and everything, it just didn't feel right to cram it into this particular oneshot, so I've decided I'll continue it later. Probably xD**

**Sooo... with that long author's note out of the way (sorry!) I hope ya liked it at least a little bit, and as always, critiques are totally welcomed. Thanks soooooo much for reading! I really do appreciate it. :D**


	23. Failure

:: | _Theme twenty-three,_  
:: | Failure

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

_"I have to go. I'm sorry, Link."_

Those were the only words she left him with. The only words resonating through his hollow heart, stabbing at him like knives, tearing him apart from the inside out.

He couldn't even think. Hardly possessed the strength to stand there. His face was a blank mask, hiding all the emotions swirling around inside him like a horrible storm - boiling anger, dark grief, bitter disappointment, self-loathing.

_I was too slow. I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't save her. Someone else had to do it for me._

Link thought of the dark-skinned, red-eyed woman that had chastised him, telling him that he was weak and unworthy to act as Zelda's hero.

And the worst part about it - she was right. He rubbed a hand across his tired eyes - eyes that had been forced to stay open and awake for two nights in a row. He hadn't had time to sleep. He'd only had time to blunder through the Earth Temple as quickly as possible, knowing that his dear, beloved Zelda stood waiting for him at the end of it. And even as hard as he had tried, he hadn't managed to reach her in time.

His most recent memory of her was watching her retreating back, her beautiful sun-golden hair swaying as she went, and in naught more than a single moment she was swallowed up by a portal of light that took her elsewhere. Where, he knew not. He only knew that she was out of his grasp once more, and after he had labored so diligently to find her.

Link shut his eyes and rubbed his temples, his breath coming slowly and exhaustedly. He wanted sleep. He was so tired. But more than anything he wanted Zelda back.

He loved her more than anything in the world - the girl he had grown up with, the one that had been his only friend when his parents had vanished and he knew not where they had gone to or what had happened to them. He would do _anything _for her. And he had tried his best to save her - but apparently, his best wasn't enough. He couldn't be his best. He had to be more than that. He had to be _perfect._

Impossible.

_I can't save you, Zelda. I'm a failure._

"Master Link," a lilting voice called to him, cutting through his thoughts.

Reluctantly he opened his eyes, staring forlornly at the beautiful spring before him. No matter how wonderful and how bright and how colorful it was, he had no eyes for it. He could only think of his failure to save his Zelda. "What?" he sighed.

Fi leaped out from his sword and appeared in front of him, her face as expressionless and dull as it always was. "I calculate a one hundred percent chance that it will profit you nothing to stand here, unmoving. I highly recommend that you advance toward the Goddess Crest, Master Link."

"Yeah. Thanks, Fi," he grumbled. His robotic, emotionless companion would provide no moral support for him in such a moment of emotional turmoil. He felt truly alone, useless, pathetic... And he hated himself for it.

Then he saw something - just one simple, tiny movement - but it caught his eye nonetheless. Fi's metallic blue lips, tilting upward. It was such a minimal tilt that he thought he might have been imagining it, but no, he could swear that she was _smiling. _However minuscule a smile it was, it was there.

"Master Link," she said, and her melodic, metallic voice might have been encouraging.

No. Surely he was imagining things. Surely his sleep-deprived mind, desperately craving comfort of any kind, was simply insisting that Fi was actually showing some kind of emotion. After all, she couldn't feel. She had stated that to him on multiple occasions. But...

"You're right," he admitted, with a light shrug of his shoulders. "Standing here isn't going to do me any good. Moping around won't save Zelda." And he so desperately wanted - _needed - _to save her. If he allowed his emotions of failure and self-loathing to control him, to debilitate him and stop him from progressing, then what kind of hero would he be?

So he squared his shoulders, and took a step forward.


	24. Rebirth

:: | _Theme twenty-four,_  
:: | Rebirth

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

She stands on a cliff  
Princess of a fallen land  
And her heart cries out

Hair flowing golden  
But disheveled and filthy  
Ragged and unkempt

Eyes once clear and blue  
Only dull and filled with pain  
She longs to see him

Longs for his comfort  
For his strong hands to aid her  
To help her rebuild

It was her own choice  
To return him to his youth  
Now she regrets it

She thinks about him  
Wonders, does he feel the same?  
Does he miss her too?

Her eyes roam the fields  
Once golden and beautiful  
Now only barren

And she regrets it -  
Regrets all of it, the quest  
That ruined her land

But as she watches  
The fathers and mothers and  
Their happy children

And the carpenters  
As they busily rebuild  
The once fallen land

She stands on a cliff  
Princess of a fallen land  
Her tattered heart soars

She lifts a blue shape  
An instrument, to her lips  
Plays a lilting song

And perhaps, she thinks,  
Her precious, beautiful land  
Is being reborn

* * *

**A/N: ****So I decided to experiment with writing a series of haikus about adult Zelda, post Ocarina of Time, regretting sending Link back to his childhood. It... turned out pretty interesting xP Hopefully the haikus are all accurate. ^^;**

**Reviews are appreciated, as always! I love to hear what people think. Thanks sooo much for taking time to read my stuff :3**


	25. Breaking Away

:: | _Theme twenty-five,_  
:: | Breaking Away

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

A knock sounds on the door of her castle, and the princess of bugs leaps excitedly to her feet and hurries to answer it. It has to be _him._ Who else can it be? And when she pulls open the door, she realizes she's right - it is him. Clad almost from head to toe in green, he reminds her of a large grasshopper. And although he is, in fact, a Hylian, she calls him Sir Grasshopper nonetheless. "Good afternoon, Sir Grasshopper," she chimes happily.

"Hello, Agitha." He smiles at her - a kind, warm smile.

"Come inside!" And she hurries to step aside to permit him entrance into her castle. As he crosses her threshold, she can't help but ask, "Did you find any more of my lost guests?"

Still with a smile on his face, he reaches into the pouch that's always at his side and gingerly lifts from it a small, glimmering insect. Cradling it in the palm of his hand, he shows it to her - a beautiful golden butterfly.

"Oh!" Agitha grins jubilantly, and she stares at the beautiful little butterfly in his hand. "Hello!"

"Hello," the butterfly titters in a high-pitched, notably feminine voice.

"How do you do, Mrs. Butterfly?" Agitha holds out her hand to the butterfly, and the little insect flutters into her palm.

"I'm quite well, thank you, Princess Agitha." Mrs. Butterfly smiles - if a butterfly can smile - and says, "Have you seen my husband, Mr. Butterfly? I'm afraid we got separated on our way here..."

Agitha nods and carries the little insect to the center of the room, where a large tree sprouts out from the ground beneath the floor and stands all the way to the top of the ceiling. "Here he is," says the bug princess, pointing to a handsome male butterfly perched atop one of the tree's branches.

Mrs. Butterfly giggles in delight and flutters up to land beside him. "Mrs. Butterfly!" her husband cries happily, a grin on his face. "It's so good to see you again, dear! I'm so sorry we both got lost in the fields."

"Oh, it's quite all right." Mrs. Butterfly seems to shrug her shoulders, then she turns her head to the young Hylian man still standing - somewhat awkwardly - in the doorway. "It's thanks to that brave knight that I finally found my way here! Thank you so much!" she calls to him.

Sir Grasshopper, with the long, pointed ears of a Hylian, has very acute hearing. He should hear the butterfly's thanks, even if her voice is somewhat tiny. But strangely enough, he remains silent, as if she hadn't spoken at all.

Agitha watches him in confusion. "Mrs. Butterfly thanked you. Aren't you going to say something?"

The young knight nervously shifts his weight and runs a hand through his golden hair. "Um..." Suddenly he looks very uncomfortable, and his deep blue eyes glance to the sides or the floor - anywhere but at Agitha. She realizes she might have offended him, and she frowns at herself for being such an ill-mannered princess.

"I'm sorry, Sir Grasshopper. Won't you come in and have a spot of tea?" She gives him her most radiant smile.

But he shakes his head in response. "R-really, I have to be going," he mutters. "I'm really sorry. I just have a lot of things to attend to."

"Oh, I see." Agitha's gaze drops to the ground, and she sighs in disappointment. "That's fine. Thank you for escorting Mrs. Butterfly here."

"Yes, thank you!" both Mr. and Mrs. Butterfly chime simultaneously.

"They are very grateful." Agitha nods her head. "I hope you return soon."

"I will," Sir Grasshopper replies, the corners of his lips tilting up into a small but perhaps slightly forced smile. She wonders why he seems so uncomfortable. "And I'll return with more bugs." He turns around to leave, but stops and glances over his shoulder to add one last thing. "They're very excited to come to your ball. They've just lost their way, is all, and I'm happy to escort them to your castle."

Agitha giggles happily and gives him a deep, flourishing curtsy. "You are too kind, Sir Grasshopper. Good luck in your travels, and I hope to see you soon!"

"Yes, goodbye! Good luck!" the butterflies call out to him.

"See you," says the young man - but his words are directed only at Agitha, not at her insect friends. She frowns as he leaves and shuts the door behind him. Why is he so impolite to the poor bugs? Oh well. Maybe he's simply tired, she thinks to herself, and turns away to make herself a pot of tea.

The young man, on the other side of the door, shuts his eyes and heaves a long, distressed sigh as he gently rubs his temples. He never knows how to act around her; never knows what will break her delicate mind and what won't. His long Hylian ears can hear Agitha's voice, even through the thick wooden door.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Butterfly," she's saying, "how are you enjoying the castle?"

But they don't respond to her, because bugs can't talk.

* * *

**A/N: So I didn't incorporate the theme very well. Oops! It was still fun to write (I seriously believe Agitha is insane [albeit adorable], lol). :3 Thanks for reading - I love all your awesome reviews! :D**


	26. Forever and A Day

:: | _Theme twenty-six,_  
:: | Forever and A Day

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

I've been stuck in this stupid cell for a lifetime. It feels like a lifetime, anyway. There are two other girls in here with me - one is that filthy little street rat Maggie that always used to beg me for food and money when we were back at home and we _weren't _stuck in this miserable place, and the other is some girl from far away. I think her name's Aryll. She's been talking about her brother a lot lately, saying he'll come to save us.

I really doubt that. Nobody's going to come save us; nobody knows where we are, and even if they did, they wouldn't rescue us. This place is too terrifying, and I doubt anybody is brave enough to come save us from it. I know my father is panicking, and I can just imagine him pacing his room with his head in his hands, mumbling something about how he needs to get me back. The image, although it's just imagined, rips my heart in half. I miss my father so much.

He always used to call me his beautiful little princess. He always said I was strong and dignified. And so no matter how much I miss him, no matter how much I want to cry, I can't - because I'm his beautiful, strong, dignified princess, and tears aren't beautiful, strong, or dignified in any way at all.

So I've been sitting here in this cell for what feels like forever, drawing patterns in the dust on the floor, which is something I'd never usually do because it's filthy and gross. But when you're bored and scared and sad, you get desperate, I guess.

It's just another day for us three girls, being kidnapped and stuck in a cell. I don't want to talk to the other girls, because Maggie is an idiot and I hate her, and because I know Aryll will just talk about her brother. I don't want to hear about her brother anymore. If I do, it'll just remind me of my father and how much I know he misses me and how much he loves me. So instead I sit silently in one corner of the cell, peering out through the bars and watching the stars twinkle through the only tiny window visible in this awful, dank room.

And then, suddenly, I hear something - the giant wooden door of the room creaking open. At first my heart panics and skips a beat just because I wasn't expecting the noise, but then I calm down, and I don't even bother to glance up and see who it is. It's probably just another ugly moblin, coming to check up on us and make sure we're not trying to escape or anything. Not that we could - the tiny door of our cell is locked tight and I don't know if there's any way to pick the lock and open the door.

But when I hear Aryll gasp in surprise, I can't help flicking my gaze toward the door just to see who it is.

It's a boy, and at the sight of him, I'm confused. Really confused. Who is he? Why is he here? _How _did he get here? He looks really strange - he's dressed in this weird green outfit with a floppy green cap on his head, and he has a sword strapped to his back. I hear Aryll whisper "brother", but she doesn't call out to him. She's a pretty smart girl, and I'm sure she knows that if she calls to him, the noise will just alert someone and they'll probably come investigate to see what the commotion is about. So everyone remains as silent as possible as the boy creeps closer to our cell, and I realize that my heart is hammering wildly in my chest.

Someone is actually here to save us. Somehow, this boy made it past all the moblin guards and came to rescue us. I allow myself, for just a second, to have hope - but then that hope is crushed when a giant bird drops from the ceiling and lands in front of the boy with a _crash _and a loud, angry caw. It caws once more at him, just to express its annoyance - then it picks him up in its talons and carries him off, up and away into the night.

I sigh in frustration and turn away. I can hear Aryll sobbing softly behind me, no doubt crushed by the fact that her brother was so close to saving her but ended up failing in the end anyway. I want to turn around and comfort her, but I don't know how - because I'm on the verge of tears myself. I know there's no hope of escape.

I've been waiting forever to get out of this dank, damp cell, but it appears I'll just have to wait even longer.

* * *

**A/N: So I just realized that, even though I love Wind Waker, I haven't really written any oneshots about it. So... here's this! I really like Mila, actually... sure, she's a snob, but she's adorable and I love her. So I'll probably write more about her soon xP**

**Also, everyone's reviews just make me sooo happy! /sniffsniff/ So just let me thank you guys for the hundredth time :3**


	27. Lost and Found

:: | _Theme twenty-seven,_  
:: | Lost and Found

* * *

: Rated T :

* * *

Her heart thuds wildly in her chest. Each breath she takes is ragged and desperate; a plea for air to fill her lungs. Her blonde hair hangs in ugly, greasy strands and her clothes are tattered. She clutches her still-strung recurve bow in weak, trembling fingers. She feels like a mess because she is a mess, but what does she have to show for it? Almost nothing at all. Out of the dozen arrows she fired, only one found its mark - in the beast's back leg. Hardly a fatal strike. If anything, that single strike made things worse for her - it angered the beast, and the awful thing chased her around the room until she was a sweating, panting mess.

In the end, it was not she that had slain the monster. _He_ had. She glances to him now, and sees him drawing his sword from the fallen beast's heart. He's always been so strong, and she's always been so weak. She grits her teeth at the thought that she's never been able to do anything right - never been able to do anything to save those closest to her.

Not even her parents.

* * *

It was dark that night, five years ago, when she was only ten years of age. There was no moon in the sky, and the thick, black clouds blotted out any light that the stars might have given. She woke from a terrible nightmare and slipped out of her bedchambers, into the halls of her castle, longing for the comfort of her parents' warm arms around her.

She discovered that the castle was utterly silent. Not a single sound drifted through the halls save for her quiet footsteps on the stone floors. Where were the guards? Usually they stood at intervals along the walls, keeping a silent vigil. But there was no one. And no sound. The silence unnerved her, and the little girl wrapped her arms around herself in a futile attempt to stave off a sudden chill that danced through her.

And then, suddenly, as she rounded a bend in the stone corridors of her castle, there was sound.

Voices. That was the sound she had heard. They were unfamiliar voices; they sounded cruel. Most of them were female. One was a man's, so deep and wicked that it sounded like the snarling of a hungry wolf. And just like that, her heart set to hammering violently against her ribs, until she thought it would lurch out of her tiny chest. She swallowed against a throat was was quite suddenly dry, and dared herself to press on.

She did, and discovered that the voices came from behind the heavy oak door leading to her parents' bedchambers. And now that she was much closer, she could make out the words that the strange voices spoke.

"...and if you won't give it to me, I'll take it by force." It was that male's voice - the one that reminded her of a snarling wolf. The little girl found herself trying desperately to creak the door open just a crack, so that she could observe the events taking place, and so that she could see who this strange man was. Thankfully, the hinges of the door were well-oiled, and she pressed it slightly ajar with hardly a sound. The girl eased herself closer to the door and peered into the tiny opening she had made.

Her vision was mostly obscured by the door, but she thought she could see her parents, held captive by two strong warrior-like women that had taken hold of their arms. In front of them a tall man stood, his back turned toward the door so that she could not see his face. From where she stood, however, she knew that he had bright ruby-red hair, and the round ears that poked out from either side of his head were dark, so that she supposed his skin was very tanned. Who was he? And what was he doing to her parents?

"You'll never take Hyrule," her father spat.

The little girl's eyes widened. This strange man wanted to take Hyrule?

"Who are you to deny me?" The awful man with ruby-red hair chuckled, a terrible, dark sound. "Look at the position you've landed yourselves in. Do you think have power to resist me? Just try and fight back! Just try and stop me!"

As if obeying the stranger's words, the little girl's father tried to lunge forward - but the woman holding his arms pressed something large and glimmering to his back; it looked like a curved sword. "If you try to move one more time, I'll cut you open right here and now," the woman spat.

No! The little girl watched in horror. She would not let these strangers harm her parents! Just as she was very near to rashly bursting into the room without even an idea of what she would do once she was inside, a hand clamped over her mouth. A gloved hand. She tried to scream, but her voice was muffled by the thick, warm leather of the attacker's glove, and she could do nothing. Just as she began to squirm in a futile attempt to free herself from her assailant, a gentle voice whispered in her ear, "Princess Zelda, it's me, Henry. Please, be quiet. I'm going to help you."

Instantly the child stilled herself. She had trusted Henry for as long as she could remember, he being one of the senior castle guards. Although he was perhaps a little too advanced in years, he was still a capable and trustworthy warrior. She glanced over her shoulder at him, peering up into his face with wide blue eyes.

Suddenly a terrible scream pierced the night. Zelda knew that voice - her mother's. She had never heard her mother shriek before, but she still knew it was her mother. Before she had a chance to peer into her parents' bedchamber once more to see what had happened, Henry had dragged her away down the castle corridors.

"We must escape, princess," he said quietly to her, his voice panicked and his eyes wide as he peered ahead into the darkness of the hallways.

"But why?" she asked, her sweet, innocent voice cracking with fear. "What's happened to mother?"

He shook his head, not trusting himself to speak.

And so they went, slinking through the shadows as they escaped the deathly silent castle. It felt like an age before they emerged into the courtyard, only a few yards away from the main gates that led outside into the town beyond, and Henry turned to the young princess at his side. "Now we must run - run as far as we can."

She stared up at him, uncomprehending, her eyes full of confusion and terror. "But mother and father -"

"We need to leave now, do you understand me?" Henry snapped, and Zelda reeled back in surprise. Never before had he spoken so sharply to her. Her entire small body began to tremble, and her eyes filled with tears. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, why was he being so mean, why had her mother screamed, why weren't her parents with her -

And suddenly, Henry howled in agony, a terrible sound that the horrified, confused little princess could not help reacting to. She shrieked - and her shrieks only grew louder when she saw the head of an arrow protruding from his chest. He had been shot from behind; the strike was almost instantly fatal, for he had naught more than a moment to cry out in agony before his eyes dulled and he fell forward. Still screaming, the little girl hurried out of his way so that he wouldn't crush her on his way down, and she only stared at his lifeless, fallen body with tears streaming down her cheeks. She hadn't the slightest idea of where he had been shot from and who had shot him, and she had no desire to find out.

So she ran as fast as her tiny legs could carry her - away from the courtyard, away from castle, away from everything she had ever once known and loved.

* * *

"Are you coming?"

His voice breaks her out of her terrible memories, and she glances up to meet his bright blue eyes. He's staring at her, his gaze cold, she thinks. She swallows, and, not wanting to deny him, she nods quickly in response and hurries toward him, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and slinging her bow over her shoulder as she goes. Once she draws near to his side, he gives her a tiny, almost imperceptible smirk as he sheathes his sword at his back.

_"I have found my hero."_

Zelda frowns. The thought is not her own; it is almost as if it comes from the walls themselves and echoes around the cold stone room. But she knows she is the only one who can hear the voice. She's been hearing it for a few years now, and it always says the same exact words - _"I have found my hero." _Nothing else and nothing more. Multiple times she has wondered to herself who the words come from and why only she can hear them, but she never knows the answer.

_I know he's the hero, _she thinks to herself, almost as if mentally responding to the odd voice. _He has the Triforce of Courage, after all._ Zelda looks at him once more, and watches as he wipes his golden bangs away from his sweaty face. Both of them are exhausted and filthy; after all, both of them have been trekking tirelessly through the temple, neither of them finding chance to bathe in those many days. She glances back to the corpse of the monster again, taking in its bulky, furry, almost wolf-like body, and its unnaturally huge size. Her arrow looks like naught more than a tiny sliver in its back leg.

If it weren't for the hero, she would have died a long time ago. She knows that. She looks to him again.

_"I have found my hero."_

Zelda sighs audibly, ignoring the odd voice. It's been getting louder and a little more persistent lately, and as frustrating as it is, she doesn't know what to do about it. Now that she thinks about it, she remembers that the first time she started hearing the voice was the first time she met the hero, five years ago.

* * *

The young princess collapsed in the grass of Hyrule Field when her legs buckled beneath her. She could no longer stand; she had been running away for what felt like hours, desperate to evade pursuit and distance herself from her invaded castle as quickly as possible. It seemed that her small body could no longer support the exertion she inflicted upon herself.

Her face was red and tear-stained, though she no longer cried. She was too tired to. Her strength was not even sufficient to allow her to stand and keep going. She could only lie there amongst the wild grasses and flowers of Hyrule Field, her eyes drifting shut.

But they flashed open again when she heard a terrible noise nearby - a low growl, followed by the snapping of tall, thick grasses under the heavy feet of some unseen beast. Zelda's little heart already hammered in her chest due to the wild sprint she'd been maintaining only moments ago, but now her thudding heart increased its pace tenfold. But the poor child was still thoroughly exhausted, and she hardly even had the strength to heave herself upward so that she could see the beast stalking toward her.

Her bright blue eyes met with a pair of glowing yellow ones. She was so frozen in fear from the sight that she hardly even noticed the rest of the creature's body - a long snout, tall ears, and thick bushy black fur covering its body. A wolfos.

The beast only stood there, snarling at her, and made no move to come closer, as if evaluating its prey. Zelda made no move either. She was too exhausted, too worn down to get up and flee. She simply allowed her head to drop to the grassy floor and tears to flow anew; this was how she would die, too weary to stand and flee from a hungry beast. She watched, still unmoving, as it lunged.

And suddenly, its lunge was cut short. Any semblance of sound in its throat died immediately, and its eyes widened in shock and pain for a moment before its body fell completely limp. Zelda stared in amazement and confusion as its lifeless corpse was cast to the side, revealing a man that had been standing behind it. He clutched a sword in his left hand, its blade coated with a layer of the slain beast's blood. She could not take her wide eyes from the sword, knowing that this man - whoever he was - was here to kill her. She had no idea why he would want to do such a thing, or why he would go to all the trouble of slaying the wolfos if he was only going to stab her immediately afterwards. But her young mind was too tired, too afraid to think rationally. She only stared at the bloodied tip of his sword, waiting for it to pierce her heart.

It never did. He wiped it off in the grass before sheathing it at his back, and then he stared down at the girl with piercing, ice-blue eyes. Zelda wished she could cringe; wished she could flee from that icy stare. With her throat dry and her heart fluttering nervously in her chest, she only returned his gaze, finding herself unable to look away.

The man took a single step forward, and Zelda whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and curling into a tight little ball. Only a few moments earlier, she had been somewhat accepting of her imminent death, but now she decided she was quite content to live a little longer. And the thought that this strange new man with a gaze like ice might just end her life made the little girl cry fresh tears.

"What's your name?" the man asked, his voice not harsh like she had expected it to be. Instead it was smooth and quiet - but not soothing. Not to the traumatized princess.

She shook her head vehemently, wailing, "Don't touch me! Leave me alone! Go away!"

"Shh. You'll attract more monsters from the nearby woods if you keep up that noise."

Still she sobbed, her loud cries carrying far across the fields of Hyrule.

"You don't want to attract another wolfos, do you?" His voice was filled with worry, and when Zelda opened her eyes to look at him, she realized he was scanning the fields - no doubt watching for danger. She realized she did not wish to be attacked again that night, so she forced her sobs to stop, though she could not keep the tears from coursing down her cheeks. Once the noise had died down, the man looked back down at her, a small smile crossing his lips. "There, that's a good girl. Now would you mind telling me your name?"

"You aren't going to hurt me?" Zelda whimpered, shuddering as a cold breeze danced through the night, toying with the man's bright golden hair. He pushed his bangs away from his face and shook his head.

"No, I'm not."

The princess swallowed heavily, and tried to force herself to sit up - but her weak arms would not even allow her to do that much, and so she collapsed into a limp heap on the ground again, lying completely still for a while before she found the strength to speak. "Z-Zelda."

The man knelt down in front of her, his eyes icy as they always were, and she found herself drawn into them but scared of them all at the same time. She swallowed heavily as the man asked, "As in... _Princess_ Zelda?"

"Y-yes," she squeaked out, her voice naught more than a tiny whisper; the simple word might have been lost on the breeze if it weren't for the man's keen Hylian ears.

A smirk played at the corners of his mouth - one she thought was as cold as his eyes, and she did not like it. Finally she broke eye contact, looking away and shivering. "I thought so," she heard him say, and instantly flicked her gaze up to his again, confused.

"What does that mean?"

His smirk only widened, and an awful chill raced down Zelda's spine. Perhaps it was only because she was wary of strangers, still traumatized after the events she had witnessed that night, but his smirk almost seemed cruel. "Nothing," he said, carefully reaching out a hand to her. "I'm Link."

_"I have found my hero."_

"W-what?" Zelda stammered, surprised at the sudden female voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. She forced herself to sit up, though her head swam and she nearly fell again. Her eyes scanned the surrounding plains, but she saw no one that could have spoken the strange words.

The man appeared confused at her strange reaction, and he furrowed his brow. "What is it?"

"Did you say that?" Zelda asked, staring at him. No, it wasn't possible. The voice was distinctly feminine, and his was too deep to make such a sound. Still, she could not help surveying him critically, wondering if he really had spoken the words. Nobody else could have.

"I told you my name if that's what you're asking." He cocked a brow, still confused, but Zelda hurriedly shook her head in response, her pale blonde locks whipping around her face in the process.

"No! No, that's... Oh, never mind..."

A howl pierced the night sky at that moment, and Link's head snapped up. His gaze swept the plains, searching for the source of the noise, and he pressed his lips together into a thin line. Zelda's heart raced anew at the thought of another terrible wolfos coming to attack her. She bit her lip and found herself, quite unconsciously, scooting a little bit closer to Link, knowing that he was the only one within miles that could protect her from the savagery of the wild.

"Princess Zelda," he said, his voice soft, and she glanced up to him. He did not meet her eyes in return, but kept scanning the fields, and she noticed his left hand reaching the for the hilt of his sword. "Let's go."

"You mean - you and me?" she questioned, her stomach twisting at the thought. He had saved her life, and had shown no hostility toward her thus far. But still she was wary of him; she couldn't help it.

"Yes." He smiled at her, and she wasn't sure if she liked his smile. It seemed almost forced; emotionless, but no, that wasn't quite the right way to describe it. Icy, perhaps, just like his eyes. "I want you to see something," he said, breaking her from her thoughts, and she blinked at him, suddenly curious. He held out the back of his left hand to her, and there she saw a mark of three golden triangles, glowing faintly like a spot of light against the dark canvas of night. Her eyes widened when she saw it - she knew it instantly. The Triforce of Courage. "I know you bear a mark similar to this one."

Zelda frowned. "Wait - how did you know -"

"I've done research," he interrupted, with that smile of his again.

The princess had been schooled in the history of her kingdom for as long as she could remember. She had learned about the Goddesses that had created Hyrule, about the gift of the Triforce they left behind. And she knew that, since Link had the Triforce of Courage, he had to be the hero. There was no other explanation, was there?

And yet how could a man with a smile just as icy as his eyes be a hero?

Then he was holding out his hand to her - his left hand, the one that bore the golden mark - and he was speaking in a smooth, silky voice. "Come with me, Princess Zelda. You and I will be Hyrule's saviors."

"S-saviors...?" The little girl swallowed, and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering every time she looked into his piercing blue eyes. "But why? Why does Hyrule need saviors?" But it was a ridiculous question, one she wasn't even quite sure why she had asked. She already knew - the invaders in her castle. The ones that had killed Henry and taken her parents away from her. Sensing that she didn't need an answer to her question, Link said nothing in response, only held his hand out to her, waiting for her to take it.

_"I have found my hero."_ The strong, feminine voice resonated through the air again, echoing from nowhere and everywhere at once, and again it seemed that only the young princess could hear it.

She swallowed, and took the man's hand. And he smirked again.

* * *

She only watches as Link advances toward the door on the other side of the room. A frown crosses her face as she wonders what might lie in wait for them on the opposite side of the door. Will it be what they've been looking for? Or perhaps it will simply be another room filled with trials to overcome. Zelda dreads the thought, and her heart drops at the mere idea that this might not be the end of the temple. She breathes a shuddering sigh, her shoulders sagging with the simple movement.

The sound of her sigh is enough to catch Link's attention. He pauses and turns to her, one of his dark golden brows raised. "I thought you said you were coming."

Zelda averts her gaze, absentmindedly rubbing her arm, disturbing the torn fabric of her long white sleeve. Or, it had once been white, but now it is only speckled with dirt and mud and grass stains. "Link... do you think it's on the other side of the door?"

He gives a light chuckle in response. Confused at his reaction, Zelda looks up to meet his eyes, furrowing her brow. "What's so funny?" she finds herself asking.

His laughter dies almost as soon as it had come, but he's still grinning, she notices. "Nothing... It's just that I've been waiting for this day for so long. And now it's finally here." He lowers his head, his bangs falling in front of his eyes so that she can no longer see them, but he's still smiling widely. "It's finally time... they don't stand a chance."

His breathing quickens; Zelda can only slightly hear it, but she can see it more than anything. The rise and fall of his chest becomes erratic and quick, and he abruptly spins on his heel to turn away from her, clenching and unclenching his fists. She swears that he's trembling, but the movement is very slight, and only lasts for a second before he seems to regain control of himself, making her think she imagined it all. "You want to know what's on the other side of the door? If we've finally found the Master Sword?"

Zelda makes no response. She only stares at him warily, and she doesn't realize that her legs are tensed in preparation to bolt.

"Why don't we find out?" he says to her with a light, casual shrug of the shoulders - but she can tell that his casualness is feigned. Inside he's trembling with jubilance at the thought of curling his fingers around the hilt of the legendary blade. After all, he's been wanting this for a long time, since before she met him those five years ago.

Surely he is destined to wield the Master Sword. He is, after all, the hero - with the mark of the Triforce of Courage on his left hand to prove that fact. Throughout all time, since the world of Hyrule began, this cycle has repeated itself - the wielder of the Triforce of Courage is destined to take up the Blade of Evil's Bane and slay the darkness that threatens to consume the fair land of Hyrule. History cannot be denied. This has happened time and time again. It is undeniable fact.

Yet Zelda doubts him. She doubts the Master Sword will accept him. She doubts his worthiness to claim it.

* * *

The young princess Zelda stood in front of a bush, deep within a forest, staring down in dismay at a snapped twig. She clutched a strung recurve bow in her left hand, her quiver of twenty-four arrows missing just one. She had shot to kill the deer, but had failed, and it had escaped. The only thing left behind as a testament to its presence was the snapped twig, which it had crushed beneath its hoof during its flight. Zelda's aim had been only slightly askew, but just that tiny mistake had forced the arrow to veer entirely off course and thud, quivering, into a tree branch only inches away from the deer's shoulder. The sudden movement alerted the animal to the presence of a hostile being in the forest, and it had turned and fled without a moment's hesitation.

And now Zelda had no dinner. She breathed a sigh of disappointment and turned around; it was already sunset, and she had no desire to be wandering the forest after nightfall. It was better to turn and find her way back to the small camp.

It took longer than she would have liked to find her way through the forest; the shadows of dusk were long and black by the time she returned. The camp was set in a small clearing; only two tents made from animal hide were pitched in the middle, a blazing campfire in between them. Above the campfire, roasting on a wooden spit, was a fat deer. And watching the large deer roast was a man, the light of the flickering fire casting uncertain shadows across his sharp facial features. His long Hylian ears detected even the smallest footfall behind him, and he turned to face Zelda as she entered the camp, her bow slung over her shoulder.

"You already killed a deer - even when you knew I was going on the hunt for one?" Zelda's face twisted into a frown, and she wrinkled her nose at the man.

Link gave her a small smile. "I knew you wouldn't be able to catch one."

Fury boiled up inside her, but she suppressed most of it with great effort. She straightened her posture and lifted her chin, not even trying to resist the urge to glare at him. "You have so little faith in me?"

He chuckled; Zelda did not like his chuckle. To her it sounded arrogant. She'd been living and traveling all across Hyrule with him for two years, ever since she was ten, and she found she still didn't care for him much at all. She was indebted to him for saving her life and teaching her all that she knew about combat, but she would not stay by his side if it weren't for the Triforce on his left hand... and if it weren't for the voice in her head that repeated itself to her, over and over. _"I have found my hero,"_ it said, and she knew that the voice, wherever it was coming from, was referring to Link. He was the hero. And together, she and the hero would take back Hyrule from the evildoers that had ruined it. And so she stood with him through thick and thin, even though she despised him beyond all description at times.

This was one of those times. "Don't laugh at me!" she demanded, her balled hands shaking with the strain of suppressing the desire to shout at him. She felt her cheeks grow hot with anger, and she gritted her teeth. "Do you know how hard I've been trying to become a successful archer? And you don't even have the decency to believe in me."

He shrugged his broad shoulders, the casual movement making Zelda angrier. "Come now, Zelda." His voice was smooth as it always was, and she hated it. "You've only had two years to practice with the bow; I've been practicing my whole life."

"Your whole life?" she snapped. "All your nineteen years of life, you've been practicing? Even when you were too young to hold a bow?"

He frowned at that, raising a brow at her. "So... maybe it was an exaggeration. But really, I don't see why that should matter... Come, eat. The deer is ready."

Although she was furious with him, she pushed her anger away when she realized her stomach was grumbling, begging her for nourishment. So with a reluctant sigh she shuffled over to sit beside him on the large log in front of the campfire. Link used his sword to slice away a large, jagged-edged, crudely-cut hunk of deer meat, and he passed it to her. She had no plate and no utensils to eat it with, and so she used her teeth. It was most decidedly quite undignified, but she did not care. She had been living this way for the past two years; she wasn't sure if she enjoyed this way of life, but she was accustomed to it at the very least.

They ate in silence, neither of them speaking a single word to the other, Link staring off into the fire and Zelda watching the stars glimmer above her. She wondered if the three benevolent Goddesses of Hyrule were up there, watching over her, smiling kindly down at her and wishing her the best.

_"I have found my hero."_

At the sound of the strange voice which seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once, which she was now quite used to, Zelda's eyes flicked to the man sitting beside her, the uncertain firelight casting deep, ominous shadows across his tanned face. If only someone else were the hero; someone sweeter and more caring, someone that believed in her and didn't anger her quite so much.

Why did the Goddesses choose Link as their hero? Why did they think he was so worthy? She knew that these kinds of questions were not things she should be asking, even if they were only imagined and not voiced, but she couldn't help wondering...

"Have the Goddesses ever spoken to you?" she asked him, quite suddenly, and took in the look of surprise and confusion that flitted, for a moment, across his face. She had surprised even herself with such a strange question, but she was curious. In the legends of old, it was said that the Goddesses spoke to their chosen hero to guide him, and she wondered if this was true.

Suddenly his look of surprise changed to a different, darker one. She could see something awful in his eyes; hatred, perhaps. "No," he snapped, and his short tone of voice told her that the conversation was over.

But she persisted, despite her better judgment, unable to leave behind her curiosity now that the question was hanging, still partly unanswered, in the air. "But why not? Why not speak to the one they have chosen to save their precious land? Why not guide you with their words of wisdom? Why not speak to you?"

"Because," he hissed, "the Goddesses are cruel, wicked fiends."

Her breath hitched in her throat, and she stared at him with wide, incredulous eyes, shocked at his abrupt, hate-filled statement. She couldn't even find the words to protest.

Without invitation, he continued, his ice blue eyes intent on the slowly dying flames of the campfire before him. "In the ancient stories, the villain always managed to usurp the throne and ruin Hyrule before the Chosen Hero defeated him. And how does the villain do this, every single time? With the Triforce of Power. It gives him power beyond description; beyond comprehension, even, power to do whatever it is he wants."

Link turned to face Zelda, his mouth set into a grim line and his eyes narrowed. "Do you know what our pieces of the Triforce do - Wisdom and Courage? Nothing. _Absolutely nothing." _He spat the last words out with venom in his tone, his eyes flaring with unadulterated resentment. "Don't you think it's suspicious that the Goddesses give the villains power to ruin lives within the blink of an eye, but they give their hero and the princess of destiny power to do nothing at all?"

No. He was wrong. He had power; he was only denying it, blinded by his rage toward the Goddesses. Zelda was already shaking her head before he even finished his sentence. "No, I -"

But he interrupted. "What side do you think they're on? Ours?" He scoffed at that, and she saw the hints of a smile on the corners of his lips. She swallowed at the sight of it; sometimes his smile was more intimidating to her than his icy glare. Without even realizing it, she was shrinking away from him, trying to escape that cruel smirk. "No. They're not on our side," he said. "They're on his. The villain's."

"But you want to find the Master Sword, correct?" Zelda asked him, scooting as far away as she could without falling off the log and forcing herself to return his gaze, despite the fact she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her tent and ignore him for the rest of the night.

He only nodded in response, and she continued, "Then why? Why go to all the trouble of finding the Master Sword if you hate the Goddesses that forged it? It's their sacred weapon, and if you despise them so much, why do you want anything to do with them?"

His smile widened, making her stomach twist into a knot. "Ah, but that's my plan," he purred. "The Master Sword is the most powerful weapon in all of existence. There's _plenty_ that I could do with it, don't you think...?"

Zelda's eyes widened. She didn't like his tone of voice. What did he mean by that? "Plenty - ?"

"Now," he interrupted, abruptly getting to his feet and staring off into the darkness of the trees beyond, "you should go to sleep. You need rest - you have a long day of training ahead of you tomorrow."

With her brow furrowed in confusion and worry, she only stared at him. "But you -"

"I said, you should _go to sleep."_ From his position, standing with his back facing her, he turned his head to glance over his shoulder at her, and his eyes - as always - were ice.

She swallowed, and found that she couldn't speak because her throat had suddenly gone dry. So she nodded to him in reply as she slowly got to her feet, cautiously watching him as if he were an angry wolf ready to pounce on her at any moment. Any trace of a smile was gone from his face now, and it was all cold and hard, like unmovable stone.

Finding that she couldn't look at him for another second, she averted her gaze and scurried away into her tent, and swore she heard him give a short-lived but dark chuckle behind her.

* * *

He flings the door open with hardly a second thought, expectant joy written all over his face as he peers out into the room beyond. Zelda only has time to take a step forward before she sees his face breaking into a grin, and he sprints out into the other room, clumsily unstrapping his sword from his back as he does so.

Zelda frowns as she follows after him, not in any rush at all. She doesn't even need to see what lies in wait in the room beyond. She already knows - it's obvious from his reaction.

The sound of his sword clattering to the stone floor causes her to cast it a listless glance, but her eyes are soon turned forward again, watching Link rush to a pedestal at the other end of the large, long room. It's a very old place, it seems, with its stone floors cracked and parts of the ceiling crumbling. Small bits of vegetation can be seen here and there - ivy climbing into the room from the broken spots of ceiling, and moss growing between the cracks in the broken floor and walls.

And there, on the opposite side of the room, is a beautiful sword.

Although half of its blade is buried in its pedestal, the other half is clearly visible - finely crafted steel, tinged blue. Its hilt is a deep indigo, masterfully sculpted, with a bright golden gem set between its winged cross-guards. She knows what it is the moment she sees it - there is no doubt. It is the Master Sword, the legendary Blade of Evil's Bane, the weapon destined to be wielded by the Chosen Hero of the Goddesses.

And as Link runs toward it, a wide grin splitting his face, the voice seems to taunt her.

_"I have found my hero."_

She watches him as his rushed gait slows once he comes close to the Master Sword, as if he senses the reverence of it and is hesitant to reach out and touch it.

_"I have found my hero."_

His entire body is trembling with excitement; she can see it now, clearer than anything else. It's as if he isn't even trying to hide it.

_"I have found my hero."_

Slowly his left hand extends toward the hilt of the majestic sword, and she hears him chuckle in delight.

_"I have found my hero."_

Zelda realizes that she's shaking too, the voice becoming almost too much to bear. Never before has it echoed through her mind so frequently.

_"I have found my hero."_

Gritting her teeth, she clamps her hands over her long ears, though she knows that won't do anything at all to stop the voice. Why won't it just leave her alone? What is it doing to her? Why is it speaking to her and her alone? Whom does it belong to?

_"I have found my hero."_

The fingers of Link's left hand, quivering with joy, curl around the indigo hilt of the beautiful sword, and his grin widens.

_"I have found my hero."_

"Leave me alone!" Zelda screams, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head. And, strangely enough, Link doesn't even pay attention to her strange, random outburst. All his attention is focused on the beautiful sword before him, and he wets his dry lips with his tongue, tugging at the sword in an attempt to pull it free from its resting place.

_"I have found my hero."_

"No! No! Go away! Stop it! I don't know what you want!" With her hands still clamped tightly over her ears, she shakes her head, more vehemently this time, as if that will help chase away the voice. It doesn't. It repeats itself over and over again, growing louder each time, until she is sobbing with frustration and confusion and isn't even aware of the the tears coursing down her cheeks. And still Link pays her no heed. With his smile dying on his face and his brow furrowing in bewilderment, he grasps the sword's hilt in both hands and pulls again - harder this time. And to no avail. It will not come free from its pedestal.

"What?" he splutters angrily. "I am the hero! Obey my will!" he demands, clenching his teeth and pulling on the sword with all his might. Even though his body is muscular, toned by years upon years of living in the wild and practicing with all manner of weapons, he can't move the sword - not even by an inch. "I am your master!" he screams, his voice cracking on the last word, as he realizes that the sword isn't coming free. Roaring wordlessly in anger, he exerts every last ounce of his strength and pulls. And still the stubborn sword doesn't move.

_"I have found my hero,"_ the voice repeats itself for the thousandth time in Zelda's mind. And then, throughout all the years of hearing this strange disembodied voice repeat the same words over and over and over again, it finally says something new. _"Rise, Zelda, and claim the Master Sword."_

"What?!" she splutters in shock, her voice squeaky and high and terrified. Her eyes are wide as she stares at Link, still struggling to free the blade from its resting place, but his efforts are in vain. "What...? No, it... it isn't possible. What does that mean? I can't do that!"

After one more mighty but still unsuccessful tug, Link's foot slips on the cold stone beneath him, and he topples down onto his back. Instantly he's up again, snarling at the sword, glaring at it with icy hatred in his eyes, his entire body trembling - not from excitement this time, but from rage. He's panting heavily, his chest heaving with each rapid, uneven breath he takes, and he lowers his head so that his bangs cover his cold blue eyes.

He and Zelda simply stand there for a long while, hardly moving. The voice has finally silenced, and it says nothing more to the princess of Hyrule, leaving her to ponder her fate. With her eyes still wide, she lifts a hand to cover her gaping mouth and shakes her head. It isn't possible. It just isn't. How can she be the wielder of the Master Sword? It is not her destiny. She was not born for it. She is not the hero.

She's broken from her thoughts when she hears Link mumbling something, and her acute Hylian ears pick up his every word. "All my life I've been preparing to take up that sword. And now I can't."

Zelda says nothing. She can't say anything. She can only stare at him, blinking away the tears that had coursed unbidden down her face.

"The Goddesses took away my family, my home, everything I ever had and loved... and now this. _This... _denying me the only thing I've ever hoped for." His words are still quiet, but there's an unmistakable venom in them. And then - the smile. It's faint at first, but she sees it on his face immediately, and her heart lurches nervously into her throat as his smile just widens. "I've always known the Goddesses are evil." There's an unmistakable note of satisfaction in his voice - as if he's proven something to himself that he has wanted to know for his whole life.

And then he's chuckling. It starts out as a low, quiet sound in his throat, shaky and uncertain. Then it grows, louder and louder, and Zelda's heart begins hammering wildly at the sound of it. Soon his laughter is loud, shrill, and manic, and his head is tossed back, his horrible cackles directed into the heavens, as if he's laughing at the Goddesses. He's shaking madly, his hands clenched into quivering fists, and he looks extremely unsteady on his feet, as if he's ready to topple over at any minute.

_"Rise, Zelda, and claim the Master Sword."_ The voice echoes through her mind again, then it silences for only a moment before it continues, saying things it's never said before. _"My hero is lost to me. He is nothing but a disappointment. I have no use for him. Destroy him." _Link's deranged laughter is a constant background, and to Zelda, it seems as if he doesn't even stop to breathe. And as she watches him, his eyes wide and staring unblinkingly into the sky from a hole in the ceiling as he laughs, she knows the voice is right.

So she creeps toward the Master Sword, ever watching him as she advances toward it, afraid that he'll lunge at her at any given moment. But the journey to the pedestal where the Master Sword stands is uneventful, and she allows herself to look away from him as she wraps her hands around the hilt, preparing herself to pull it out.

And in the one second she looks away, she realizes something - Link's manic cackling has stopped. But she figures this out a little too late, and in the next second, she feels someone's strong arm wrap tightly around her waist, stopping her movements - and something's pricking at her throat.

"Now now, Zelda," and Link's voice is very uncharacteristically shaky and unstable, with a hint of insane amusement still evident in his tone, "what do you think you're doing? You can't have the Master Sword. If I can't, no one can."

She doesn't speak, because she doesn't want to. She no longer needs to answer to him, because he's no longer the hero. Out of her peripheral vision, she can see him holding the shaft of an arrow, and she assumes that the arrow's tip is the thing pressed to her throat. Of course it is... he can't use his sword, since he'd tossed it aside earlier - no doubt to make room for the Master Sword - and an arrow is the next logical choice for a weapon, since she has a whole quiver of them strapped over her shoulder and they're easily within his reach.

It wasn't like she and Link could afford expensive, fancy arrows when they spent their lives moving from forest to forest and living in tents. Link had made the arrows himself. And although they aren't useless, they are certainly a bit crude and hastily slapped together. And as such, she isn't too afraid of them.

With hardly a moment of hesitation, Zelda whips her head backward, slamming her skull into Link's jaw and nose. He gives a shout of pain and starts to stumble, but it isn't enough - so within a split second of her first attack, she kicks her leg back, catching him squarely in the knee. He shouts again and stumbles even more, his tight grip around her waist loosening dramatically as he fights to regain balance. She uses this single moment of confusion to her advantage, dancing nimbly away from him and curling her fingers around the hilt of the Master Sword. Gritting her teeth, she pulls with all her might.

And the blade starts to slide free from its stone resting place. Her eyes widen in surprise - there had been a doubt, nagging at the back of her mind, that she couldn't really wield the Master Sword; that she wasn't the Chosen Hero, and it wasn't her place to touch the sacred weapon. But now that doubt is abolished as she slides the beautiful blade free from its pedestal.

She turns to see Link standing frozen in his spot a few feet away from her, fury boiling in his eyes, every muscle in his body tensed as he glares at her. "How dare you," he seethes, wiping blood away from his nose where Zelda had slammed her head into him, "how dare you take away my right to wield that sacred blade. How dare you touch it!"

_"My hero is lost to me,"_ calls the ethereal voice. _"Destroy him."_

And at that moment, Link lunges at her in a completely blind fury, armed with only the single arrow he had pulled from her quiver. Zelda's eyes widen, and she stares at him as time seems, for a moment, to freeze. No, he isn't a hero. Yes, he's unworthy to wield the Master Sword. She never liked him. But he's still the one that saved her from certain doom when she was a child, and he trained her in the arts of combat for five whole years. How can she possibly even think of killing him when he has done so much for her?

_"Destroy him!"_ the voice says again - but this time, it's commanding and angry, like a snarl. And Zelda finds that she can't help but obey, so she lifts up the sword in front of her and thrusts it forward. Link, in his stupid, blind charge, doesn't have enough time to evade the attack, and the sword skewers him - straight through the chest, in one side and out the other.

She watches in horror, her mouth agape, as he gives an agonized groan on the end of her blade and blood streams out from the side of mouth. His eyes - the eyes that were always so icy, so brilliantly cold and bright - fade into nothing. No longer are they sharp, piercing blue. They're now cloudy and dull; lifeless. And in that moment she sees the faint glow of the Triforce of Courage fade away entirely from the back of his left hand, as if the mark had never even been there in the first place.

And then he falls completely limp, and she can't support the weight of his corpse on her blade. In her horror, she completely drops the hilt of the Master Sword, only watching with watery eyes as he and the blade collapse to the floor together. Her hand flies up to cover her gaping mouth; her stomach lurches and rolls, and her head spins.

_"I have found my hero," _the voice repeats itself, echoing loudly and persistently through Zelda's mind so that she can't even hear herself give a piercing scream.

* * *

**A/N: Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh... **

**This was a _very _weird experiment. It spawned from the random thought I had one day, "What would happen if Link was unworthy to be the hero?" And it turned out like... this. Also, sorry for all the tense-changes and line breaks. Since there are tons of flashbacks in this, I didn't want to write all of them in italics, so I just wrote them in past tense to indicate that they're memories; something that happened in the past. It was a weird choice, I know, I apologize. Actually the whole story was a weird choice. O_e  
**

**Yeah. I'm sorry. xD; Anyway, thanks for ****taking the time to read, and I love reviews! :3 Even if you hated it, feel free to tell me, because... yeah, it's weird. xP**


	28. Light

:: | _Theme twenty-eight,_  
:: | Light

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Link could be _so _stubborn sometimes. It was infuriating. "But why do you want to go the Light Tower?" he protested, pulling his small green blanket tighter around his shoulders. The young boy stood in the doorway of his room in the Knight Academy - the room he had been given when it was discovered that his parents had gone missing, and would never return.

Zelda harrumphed and folded her arms across her tiny chest. _"Because," _she stated, and left it at that, as if that explained everything.

"But," he started, and she knew he was going to protest even further. "I don't want to go to the Light Tower." He dropped one edge of his blanket for just a moment to rub his sleepy eyes.

The little girl pouted at him. "But Link," she pleaded, "I want to go. Won't you come with me?"

"No," he responded bluntly, giving her a tired look.

"Do it for _me?_ Please?" She tried to give the tired little boy standing before her the cutest look she could muster - the look Mia always had on her face when she was begging for food. And that adorable expression always worked on Zelda's father, so why wouldn't it work on Link?

He shifted his weight, frowning, and stubbornly shook his head. "But -"

And at that moment Zelda decided she couldn't take his stubbornness anymore, so she grasped his hand and hauled him out of his doorway, stopping his objection before he could even voice it. The small boy cried out in irritation as she began to drag him down the hallway at breakneck speed. _"Zel!" _he whined, trying to pull his hand away from hers as he stumbled along behind her. "It was bedtime _five hours ago!"_

"Yeah, right, Link!" She glanced over her shoulder at him without stopping her stride and stuck her tongue out at him. "I checked the time before I came. It's not even bedtime yet! Why were you asleep in the first place?" He had always liked to sleep, she knew that much, but she didn't know why. Why not run around Skyloft and explore every little nook and cranny it had to offer? Why not play knights and dragons with her? Why not go for a swim in the lake at the edge of Skyloft? Why not venture as deep into the Waterfall Cave as they both dared to go until they started hearing strange, spooky noises? Why did he miss all of that fun and opt to sleep instead? She just didn't understand him. But he was her best friend, and she was determined to show him a good time. So no matter how much he whined and complained and protested, she dragged him outside of the Knight Academy and down the stairs in front of it, and eventually he silenced his obnoxious groaning.

A long silence passed between them for a moment, broken only by their breathing, Zelda's determined footsteps and Link's tired, shuffling ones. And then he asked again, "But why the Light Tower?"

"Because," she said, the exact same answer she had given him before. A glance to the sky around them revealed that the sun was setting, and that meant bedtime was coming soon. But Zelda didn't care. She was absolutely certain she could sneak into the Knight Academy after curfew and go completely unnoticed by her father, despite the fact she had failed to do just that multiple times in the past.

So she kept going, dragging a now-silent Link behind her as she went. Eventually she stopped at the base of the Light Tower, staring up at the long ladder that faced her. She finally released Link's hand, and he mumbled, "We're at the Light Tower now. Are you happy?"

"No," she scoffed, rolling up her sleeves and grabbing onto the ladder with both hands, testing its durability. She had climbed this same ladder a few times in the past, but for some reason she was always afraid it was going to break beneath her. She refused to admit that aloud, though, or else Link would taunt her for being scared, she was sure of it. So she swallowed and said, "We're going to the top of it."

"The top?" Link groaned in response. "But that's _so _high..." He wrapped his green blanket around his shoulders and frowned, staring up toward the top of the tower. "I bet you can't even climb it."

"I'll prove you wrong!" Zelda declared, sticking her tongue out at him for good measure before she scurried up the ladder. It didn't crack beneath her, and she reached the top much quicker than she had expected. She turned around to stare down at Link, who looked especially tiny from the top of the Light Tower, and she smirked. "I bet you can't do that!"

Even from her high vantage point, she saw his expression change from tired to irritated. "Yeah, I can!" he shouted up to her, grasping the rungs of the ladder. He started to climb up, but when his blanket began to flutter in the wind and threaten to fly straight off his shoulders, he stopped to tie it around his neck to keep it in place, then he climbed. He was actually a decent climber, and made it to the top faster than she had. She tried not to be jealous.

Once at the top of the tower, he shivered a little, and Zelda only then realized that it was getting a bit colder. Glancing to the sky revealed that the sun was setting further, and dusk was almost upon them. As the wind tossed her long blonde hair into her face, she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

_"Now_ will you tell me why we're here?" Link asked with a sigh as he untied his blanket from his neck so he could better wrap it around himself.

Instantly the cold seemed to be forgotten as a smile spread across Zelda's young face. "We're going to finish our game of knights and dragons!" she declared happily. Link usually loved knights and dragons, because he was always the dragon, and he loved pretending to fly around and blow fire and attack the noble knight Zelda. But now, for some reason, he only frowned.

"Why all the way up here?"

Zelda huffed at him and planted her hands on her hips. "Don't you remember where we left off yesterday?" She straightened her posture, cleared her throat, and assumed the most dramatic voice she could manage. "The evil dragon chased the noble knight Zelda all around the Surface, and since she really badly needed to escape, she climbed to the top of a castle - but the dragon followed her!" Zelda loved the Surface world. She had never seen it, and most people tried to convince her it wasn't real. But she knew they were all wrong, and she loved pretending that she lived down there, on the Surface, in a big castle. She had never seen a castle either, not really, but she'd seen a drawing of one in one of her father's books. Castles seemed like such grand, beautiful structures, and she loved pretending to live inside them.

When Link said nothing to her dramatic recounting of events, she motioned to the Light Tower beneath their feet. "This is the top of the castle, and you, the evil dragon, chased me up here." All over again she began to notice the cold, and she tried to hide her shivers. Still Link said nothing, and her heart began to sink. Did he not like her idea of fighting atop the "castle"? Did he not want to play knights and dragons...? Her face fell, and she cast her eyes downward as she wrapped her arms around herself. "So... you were the dragon, and I was... the knight. Remember...?"

And then, suddenly, Link was roaring - as best as a little boy can roar, anyway - and he was lunging forward at her, his blanket grasped in his hands and spread behind his arms in a flimsy semblance of wings. She shrieked with joy as he crashed into her, and desperately she stumbled away from him, giggling uncontrollably. She held out her hands in front of her, pretending to clutch a sword. "Back! Back, evil dragon! My magical golden sword can kill you in a second, so you don't stand a chance!"

"But I can breathe fire!" Link countered, in the deepest voice he could manage - which wasn't very deep at all, seeing how small and young he was. Then he opened his mouth wide and exhaled sharply, which was his sign for breathing fire.

To an outsider, the scene would look pathetic - a little girl holding her empty hands out in front of her, and a small boy standing there with a blanket in his hands, his arms spread out wide, and exhaling loudly like an idiot. But to the two young children, they could imagine the scene perfectly in their minds - a valiant knight standing before a fearsome green dragon, breathing a stream of deadly fire at her, as she held it off with her golden sword raised high in the air, its magical properties acting like a shield to block the flames.

Link rushed over to her side, flapping his arms wildly, and exhaled loudly at her again. Zelda giggled again and dashed away from him. "Hey! No fair!" Link huffed, letting his arms drop to his sides for a moment. "I blew fire on you!"

"And I dodged it!" she retorted, swinging her imaginary sword at him. At the sight of this, Link immediately stumbled away from the weapon with wide eyes, as if it could actually inflict harm upon him. Then he bared his teeth and pretended to snarl, in the way he thought an evil dragon might snarl, and lunged at Zelda again. She swiped her golden sword at him as she sidestepped his attack yet again. Link gave another roar and rushed toward her, flapping his arms, the green blanket fluttering behind him in the cold dusk air. And as Zelda desperately backed away from his advance, wildly swiping her imaginary sword at him in ineffective arcs, she took one more step backward and felt something awful beneath her foot - nothing. Nothing at all.

Before she knew what was happening, her foot was slipping off the edge of the Light Tower into the deep, endless sky beneath her. And in that split second of terror where her heart flew into her throat as she glanced down into her imminent death, and she felt her other foot sliding off the cold stone surface of the tower, she screamed as loud as she could manage.

Then someone had grasped both her hands and, with a grunt of exertion, was heaving her back onto the tower. She flicked her wide, horrified eyes upwards to find Link, holding tightly to her hands and pulling with all his might. He had dropped his green blanket altogether so that he could rush to her aid, and although he had stopped her fall, he couldn't seem to manage to pull her back up to safety. "Try to pull yourself up!" he called desperately, his voice strained.

The little girl swallowed heavily, trying to ignore the feeling of open sky beneath her feet. She shut her eyes and placed her feet on the tower, and tried to pretend that she could walk up it as easily as she could stride across a floor. Her feet scrabbled across the stone wall, which allowed her just the tiniest bit of purchase so that Link could pull her up the rest of the way. He grunted loudly with exertion as he heaved with all his might, Zelda still trying to help him by pushing herself upward with her feet. Finally she cleared the edge of the tower, and the two of them collapsed safe to the cold stone floor of it, panting with exertion and adrenaline.

Tears began to course down Zelda's face, completely against her own will. She tried to stop them, but the fear of nearly falling into the endless sky overtook her, and she couldn't. She curled up on the top of the Light Tower, shivering uncontrollably and wrapping her arms tightly around herself.

"Z-Zelda...?" Link's timid voice came from beside her. "Ummm..." Obviously he was at a loss of what to do, and he simply sat there in front of her, nervously shifting himself multiple times so that he sat in plenty of different positions, all of them looking terribly uncomfortable. "Are you... okay...?"

She could only nod, since she didn't have the strength to speak. The tears flowing freely down her face just made her even colder, and soon her teeth began to chatter. Lying on the cold stone ground made things worse than they already were, so she weakly pushed herself into a sitting position in a vain attempt to avoid the freezing floor beneath her. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself, unable to stop the violent shudders that racked her tiny body. "I want to go home," she said quietly, between shivers.

Link turned around to look at the ladder that led down to the base of the Light Tower, and he frowned. Night had descended by now, moonless and dark, shrouding nearly everything in shadows. "It's too dark... I can't even see the ladder. We couldn't make it down. And then there's all the monsters down there." He pointed to a few remlits that had been put outside for the night; because of their violent nature that surfaced each time the sun set, they couldn't be left inside.

Zelda buried her face in her knees and tried to shut out the world around her, but it didn't work. She was still shivering and miserable and afraid. "We should have never come up here," she lamented. "It's all my fault. If I wouldn't have taken you to this stupid tower then we'd both be fine..."

"Um... Zel," Link mumbled awkwardly. "It's - it's fine, really."

A long silence followed that, where Link said nothing else, and neither did Zelda. Her tears had finally stopped, but there was still a terribly hollow feeling in her heart when she thought about the possibility that she and her best friend were stuck on the top of the Light Tower for the whole night. Maybe even longer. She shuddered again.

Then she felt someone's arms around her, and a blanket covering her back. Confused, she lifted her head to find Link right there beside her, holding her tightly, his blanket wrapped around her. "I - I was really scared that you were going to fall and... never come back," he said quietly, refusing to meet her eyes, instead staring down at the stone beneath him. "I didn't see any of the knights flying around, so I thought nobody would see you falling, and nobody would catch you, and..." He trailed off, and swallowed heavily. Zelda averted her gaze and huddled tightly into the blanket as he took a deep breath and said, "Let's never come here again, okay?"

"O-okay." She shut her eyes and leaned against his shoulder, not afraid in the least to do so. He was her best friend, after all. Not to mention that, in her childish mind, he was the _only _boy in the whole world that didn't have cooties.

"But," he said quietly after a long moment of silence, "we can play knights and dragons somewhere else... tomorrow."

She sighed in response, and kept her eyes closed, longing for the day when she could leap off into the sky and _not _be afraid of it. "No, let's play loftwings tomorrow."

"...Loftwings?" he asked, both confused and curious at the same time.

"Yeah." Zelda nodded slightly against his shoulder. "If we had loftwings tonight, Link, then I could have fallen into the sky for as long as I wanted, and I'd be fine, because I'd have my loftwing to catch me. I can't wait until we get our loftwings." She found that she was having quite a difficult time staying awake. "What color do you think yours is going to be?" she asked groggily.

"Um..." Link paused to consider this for a long moment, and Zelda nearly fell asleep during that time. "I don't know," he finally said. "What about you? What do you think yours will be?"

Even being half-asleep as she was, Zelda didn't hesitate to respond. She had thought about the answer to that very question many a time. "Blue, like the sky," she murmured, before she drifted off to sleep atop the Light Tower, safe in her best friend's arms.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the slow update on this one, I lost my muse for a while. That happens a lot. ._.**

**Anyway... after Lost and Found, I needed something fluffy. So this happened. xP The next one might also be Skyward Sword based, because I'm in a sudden Skyward Sword mood for some reason, but I can't promise anything because I'm very indecisive and I change my mind a lot, lol. Case in point - this theme was originally supposed to be about Medli from Wind Waker, because hnnngIloveMedlisomuchIcan'teven, but it just wasn't happening... sooo... **

**Uh, anyway. Thanks so much for reading my silly ****one shots x3 It makes me happy when you guys take the time out of your busy lives to read my stuff. c':**


	29. Dark

:: | _Theme twenty-nine,_  
:: | Dark

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Rain. That's the first thing I feel.

I realize my eyes are closed, and I'm lying on my side on the ground. The ground feels soft and muddy and cold. The rain beats down on me relentlessly, like thousands of icy needles stinging at my skin. I force my eyes to open, and I realize my head hurts - along with the rest of my body.

My vision is hazy, but I can see blurs of green and brown. I blink my eyes a few times in an attempt to chase away the blurriness as I try to push myself up with my arms.

I'm weak, and as soon as I try to sit up, I collapse onto my side again, my head spinning miserably. The rain continues to fall, and I shiver. My vision has improved only slightly, but I can still manage to see my surroundings.

I'm lying in a vast field. All the green and brown blurs I saw earlier are trees, their trunks thin and tall and their leafy crowns broad. If only I could lie under one of those trees, then maybe I could be sheltered from the rain. I attempt to sit up again. This time I'm successful, but only barely. My head feels awfully heavy and I'm still aware of the fact that my entire body is in pain. But why? I hold out my arms and lower my eyes to study them.

And I discover that I'm covered with scratches. None of them are too large, but I have a lot of them, and they're all bleeding. Further investigation reveals that I have scratches on my legs too, and on some on my torso. My clothes are torn here and there, and I'm filthy, covered in mud and grass. Worst of all, I'm soaking wet and freezing, and whenever a drop of rain splashes into one of my cuts, it hurts even more. Unfortunately for me, there's a lot of rain, and so it keeps splashing into my cuts. I shiver miserably and wrap my arms around myself.

How did I get all these cuts? Where am I? And why?

I realize with a jolt that I don't remember the answers to any of those questions. In fact, I don't remember _anything._

Then another question comes into my mind - who am I? And I don't have the answer to that question either. Suddenly I'm jealous of the rain, and of the fields surrounding me, and of the trees. They have an identity. I can remember what those things are. But why? Why can't I remember _my _identity?

I squeeze my eyes shut and my teeth begin to chatter from the cold, but the rain continues to fall, never stopping or slowing for even a second. I try to force myself to remember - something, anything, _please! _But there's nothing. Nothing at all. When I close my eyes and search my memories, I find that, in my mind, I'm standing in a vast expanse of darkness. There's nothing ahead of me or behind me or around me. Even my own figure is shrouded in blackness, because I don't know what I look like. Fruitlessly searching my memories leaves me in despair, because I feel like I'm missing something - no, I _know _I'm missing something, something very important. I'm missing _everything._ I can't find even a shred of anything at all. And I'm falling, falling into a pit of blackness, because that's all there is - darkness and nothing more...

Then when my body thuds onto the muddy grass beneath me, my eyes flash open, and I realize that I had collapsed onto my side again. I hug my arms around myself as tightly as I can, hoping that will chase away the cold, but it doesn't. I have to get up. I have to find shelter. And maybe I'll discover who I am along the way, and why my memories are gone. I doubt it, but I can't lie here and do nothing.

So I force myself to stand. It's a laborious process, pushing myself into a sitting position with thin, trembling arms and then trying to get up onto my feet from there. My feet are bare, and they're worse than the rest of my body - the skin there is split in multiple places and covered with blood, and simply remaining standing is a struggle. There's nothing in front of me; nowhere to go. There's only the field. So I turn around, shivering and trying in vain to ignore the cold and the pain and the despair and the everything.

Behind me is a great stone wall, spanning almost the entire field. Moss peeks out from between the large stones, and again I find myself jealous of these things. Stones and moss. I know what they are upon first seeing them, despite the fact that I don't recall ever seeing them before this point in time. And yet I still remember them. Why don't I remember myself?

I'm tempted to shut my eyes again and try to remember, but then I envision the darkness shrouding my mind, and I'm too scared. I just can't do it. I just can't remember.

I swallow heavily and stumble forward toward the stone wall. I don't really know why I'm going in this direction, but I keep walking anyway, gritting my teeth each time I take a step and I feel mud seeping into the cuts on my feet. A small, high-pitched sound escapes my throat, and I realize I'm crying - but I don't try to stop myself. I sob each time a rock digs into the cuts on my feet and each time I nearly stumble and fall to the ground, which happens very frequently.

But I keep going. I keep going because there's no hope for me anywhere, and I don't know what else to do other than to walk forward.

I stop when I see a break in the stone wall. It's a tall archway, and beyond it is a long wooden bridge that leads to an open gate. Maybe there will be people on the other side of that wooden gate - maybe even someone that knows me. It's too much to hope for, so I try to push the thought away as soon as it comes. I hug myself tighter, lower my head, and rush across the wooden bridge as quickly as possible. It's a painful process with my feet the way they are, but I want to get in through those gates as quickly as I can. I want to get away from the rain and the empty expanses of the green fields. I want to see other people - people who know who they are and might know who I am too.

No, no, I don't want to get my hopes up. I grit my teeth and break into a run - and almost immediately after I do, my legs buckle beneath me and I collapse onto the bridge with a loud yelp. My voice is high and filled with pain.

But as much as I want to stay there, sprawled onto my face on the bridge and wallowing in self-pity, I can't. I have to keep moving. So I lie there for hardly a second before I scramble to my feet again, sobbing at the pain racking my entire body, especially my feet. A glance over my shoulder reveals that I'm leaving tracks of blood behind me wherever I step, but the rain is already mostly washing them away. I take a deep, shuddering breath to calm my sobs, and I move on.

It feels like an age before I finally step through the wooden gates. Inside of the gates is a busy-looking place - or rather, it looks like it should be busy, since it's crowded with large homes and shops. But there isn't a single soul standing outside in the wide, cobblestone streets. I can understand why. If they have a shelter to stay inside of, then no sane person would abandon it for this awful weather.

My hair is soaking wet, and it's sticking to the sides of my face. I realize my hair is short, but I can still see a few locks of it. It's sort of a dark yellow - but that's only because it's wet. When it's dry, I assume it will be a pale color, almost yellow, but lighter and duller. What does the rest of me look like? What shape is my face? What color are my eyes?

In one corner of the streets is a small indentation where a few stones are missing, revealing the dirt underneath, turned to mud due to the rain. A large puddle of rainwater has gathered here, and I step over to it, the cold, uneven cobblestone scraping painfully against the soles of my feet. I ignore the pain and peer into the puddle, searching for my reflection. It's hard to see in the shallow, muddy puddle, but my face is small and delicate-looking, and I think my eyes are green. My face is filthy - I can see that as well as feel it. My small lips are twisted into a grimace, and there are little cuts on my cheeks. Even though I now know what I look like, I still don't know who I am.

I've seen enough. With a heavy sigh, I turn away from the puddle - and something catches my eye. A small form, pale, curled into a ball and huddled in a narrow alley between two large homes.

My eyes widen, and I stumble over to the figure, wondering who it is and what's happened to it, and why it's out here, lying in this miserable rain when there's absolutely nobody else out here. I collapse onto my bruised knees in the alleyway beside the small form, and I reach my hand to it as I study it.

It's a strange thing. I can tell it's a young boy, though he looks nothing like me. Instead of skin he has white scales. I think some of them are supposed to be purple, but he's terribly pale, and when I touch his arm I realize he's very cold - colder than me. He doesn't stir, even when I gently shake his arm. I realize he's hardly breathing.

And in that moment I forget about myself. I forget that I'm in pain, and freezing, and miserable, and that I'm desperate to know who I am but I have no answers. I forget the deep despair I felt when I tried to remember something, _anything _about me, and failed. I forget all that. The only thing I think about is this boy, this poor boy that's huddled into an alleyway, hardly breathing and with skin as cold as ice. With wide eyes and a racing heart, I gently wrap my weak, trembling arms around his tiny body, and I pull him close to me. He's the only thing that matters to me right now. I have to save him.

I open my mouth and use my voice for the first time that I can remember. "Help!" I cry out, my high-pitched voice tiny and scratchy. I didn't realize until now that my throat hurts. But I ignore the pain, and I cry out again, a little louder this time. _"Help!"_

Nobody responds. Of course they don't. They don't want to come outside in this weather, not even if it means someone will die if they don't. I cast a panicked glance to the boy in my arms to see if he's still breathing. He is, but only just. I cry out one more time, pleading for someone, _anyone _to answer me, but nobody does.

I grit my teeth and stagger to my feet, pulling the boy up with me. He doesn't move, doesn't even flinch. He's small and light, but since my entire body is weak and shaking, I can barely hold onto him. But I have to find shelter for him, somewhere where he can rest and heal.

The dark nothingness of my mind has finally been interrupted; interrupted by a single objective - save the boy. I have no memories and no identity, but at least I can do _something. _I can and will save him. And I'll never forgive myself if I let him die.

So I keep walking, no matter how much my legs tremble beneath me, and no matter how many footprints of blood I leave in my wake, and no matter how much my arms threaten to give out and drop the boy I'm holding. No matter what, I will press on.

* * *

**A/N: The reason this took so long to write is because I kept trying to write something Skyward Sword-related, but then I realized I just wanted to write this. xP Sorry for writing too much Twilight Princess stuff!**

**Seriously, though, I _love _Ilia, and I have never understood all the hate for her. Nearly every fanfic I've ever read - whether they're AU or not - portrays Ilia as being a selfish, jealous, cruel monster. And I just don't get it. I think Ilia is very strong. Maybe not physically, but she's strong in different ways. So I just wanted to write about her :3**


	30. Faith

:: | _Theme thirty,_  
:: | Faith

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Lanayru Desert was by no means a beautiful place, but its golden sands reminded Link of the color of Zelda's hair. He sat on the edge of one of the ruins all too common in the desert and stared out across the horizon, his expression blank and tired. A warm wind tousled his hair and stirred the bright golden sands of Lanayru.

Ah, Zelda... How he loved her. He would do anything for her - and he had already been through countless hardships for her sake. Through his journey across the Surface world he had battled demons, explored deep dungeons, and nearly met with death itself upon more occasions than he would have cared to admit. His current task was to find the guardian dragon of the desert, because doing so would be just one step closer to reuniting with his beloved Zelda again. But would he ever really see her again? He was beginning to lose faith.

He breathed a heavy sigh and turned his gaze to the bright sky, its brilliant blue color reminding him of Zelda's beautiful eyes. How he missed looking into her eyes, and how he longed to see her smile again... His heart yearned to hear her beautiful voice just one more time. He shut his eyes and felt the hot desert breeze dance across his face, and he heaved another tired, deep sigh.

Then came the noise. It was all too familiar - a metallic sort of sound, accompanied by a lilting but emotionless voice. "Master Link, I calculate a one hundred percent chance that sitting here and doing nothing will not aid you in your quest to save Zelda."

Link sighed yet again - more out of irritation this time - and responded in a grumble, "Can't you just leave me to angst in peace?" He opened his eyes again to scan the desert, and pointed to one of the timeshift stones far away. "I was just thinking about the pink flowers I see every time I hit one of those stones. Their color reminds me of Zelda's lips. It's a nicely poetic comparison, isn't it?"

Fi, though she never would have allowed Link to see it, frowned - just slightly - and her eyebrow twitched. "Master Link..." She paused for a moment to wipe any semblance of emotion off her face, and then she continued, "I calculate a one hundred percent chance that 'angsting' and making comparisons between flowers and Zelda's lips will not get you any closer to completing your quest. I highly advise you to continue on through the desert and find its guardian dragon."

Link snorted and rolled his eyes. "Just leave me alone, Fi. I don't have time for you." He shut his eyes again and waved a hand dismissively at her.

Fi floated there beside him for a long while, watching the desert breeze toy with his hair. He kept his eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to the world around him, and due to the way he was beginning to sway slightly back and forth, she realized he must have been falling asleep. Her eyebrow twitched once more. _"Master Link," _and her voice came out a bit harsher than she'd intended it to.

He jolted upright and his eyes flashed open in surprise. "Sweet Goddess, Fi! Just go f -"

"According to my calculations," she interrupted before he could go any further, "this particular oneshot is only rated K. Such language is inappropriate."

Link grunted in annoyance and turned his head to glare at her. Fi kept her face expressionless as it usually was. A long silence passed between them before Link huffed, "Just... Leave me alone, okay? Give me five more minutes and then I'll go." When he saw that she wasn't leaving, he added, "I promise."

Fi might have sighed, but if she did, it was very quiet and almost imperceptible. "As you wish, Master Link." And then she vanished into his sword again, leaving Link to think about that bokoblin standing about two hundred feet away, and how its red color reminded him of that dress Zelda wore one time when she was eight years old.

* * *

**A/N: What does this have to do with faith, you ask? Nothing, really. I just wanted to parody my own writing (since, you know, I seem to write about angsty Link a lot). xD **

**Originally, this was supposed to be for the theme Colors, but... I have a different idea for Colors that I wanted to try. Secondly, I was intensely writer's blocked for this theme. I tried about ten different things, and got discouraged when I just couldn't make any of them work... so... I wrote what was supposed to be for the theme Colors and put it on Faith since I couldn't come up with anything else. I'm really sorry for being so lazy. x3 **

**I've been going through a difficult time where my motivation and my muse is just straight-up dead, and I haven't been able to get up the motivation to do _anything, _not even things that I usually enjoy. So I'm sorry this sub-par, stupid little thing took so long to come out.**


	31. Colors

:: | _Theme thirty-one,_  
:: | Colors

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Though Hyrule was certainly a beautiful kingdom, with her vast green fields and deep forests and the lofty towers of her regal castle, she was not enough for the wanderer. In this faraway land, Hyrule's beautiful provinces were naught more than a distant memory.

Link sat astride his faithful mare, leaning forward against her neck, the sun gradually sinking below the dull brown horizon. Epona plodded wearily across the dreary, rocky plain. The quiet noises of her harness jingling; her soft breath and her rider's; her hooves clacking against the featureless brown rocks beneath her; these were the only sounds for miles.

_The girl was beautiful, with sparkling green eyes, short blonde hair, and an easy smile. In a way, she reminded him of Ilia. She set down a plate piled with steaming food at the table he was seated at. "Hello, I'm Seila! What's your name?" she asked cheerfully._

_He tried a smile in return, but it was weak and small. He was exhausted. Then again, he was always exhausted, even when he was well-rested and should have felt invigorated. "Link."_

_The tavern was dimly lit, with only a few torches blazing on the walls here and there. Even so, he could see her white teeth as her friendly smile turned into a broad grin. "Nice to meet you, Link! I don't think I've seen you around before - but then again, I don't get out too often. Do you live around here?"_

_"No," was his simple response. His voice was quiet, but easily heard, due to the fact that the tavern wasn't very busy at the moment. There were only a couple other patrons, seated at a table in the far corner._

_Seila's grin never faltered. "Where are you from?"_

_A long pause followed her question. Link dropped his eyes to his plate of still-steaming food, and after a few seconds, he skewered a chunk of lamb with his fork and popped it into his mouth, chewing slowly. It was certainly delicious, but he wasn't concentrating too much on its flavor. His thoughts were focused on his homeland - the place known as Hyrule, a truly majestic kingdom. The place where he had been born and raised. The place where he had been perfectly welcome and accepted; the place where his friends loved him and treated him like family, Rusl and Uli in particular. And the place that he had abandoned for no good reason at all._

_Feeling that the silence had stretched on for far too long, he finally replied, "Far away."_

_Finally the girl's grin vanished, replaced by a more curious look. She blinked at him with wide eyes, as if his simple two-word response was the most miraculous thing she had ever heard. She invited herself to sit opposite from him, leaning forward across the round wooden table. "Far away?" she asked excitedly. "What's your home like?"_

_Link's expression grew distant as he thought about the answer to her question. Again a silence stretched between them, but Seila didn't seem to mind. "It was once beautiful - green and vast."_

_"What do you mean, it 'was'?" Her brow furrowed in confusion._

_He pressed his lips together into a thin line and poked at his food with the fork. "It just... isn't the same for me, I suppose."_

_Seila blinked at that, seemingly more confused than before. "What made you leave?"_

_His shoulders stiffened as he took in a deep breath, then released it in a tired exhale, his shoulders slumping once more. He lowered his head a little, golden bangs falling in front of his eyes and partly obscuring his vision. He made no move to brush them away, but only continued picking mindlessly at his dinner. He couldn't very well tell her that he had left for such a trivial reason as to search for color. He remembered a time when Hyrule's fields and trees had been a bright green, its waters a deep blue, and its flowers a vibrant rainbow of colors. Now they were anything but; all its colors seemed muted and the entire land seemed to be withering. _

_But he was the only one that noticed. He had tried to express his feelings to Ilia once, and she had worried over him for a while, thinking something was wrong with him, because Hyrule was just the same as ever, she'd said. She was wrong. It wasn't - not to him, anyway. And so he had left in search of a more colorful land._

_He couldn't tell Seila that. It would sound silly. So he told her only half the truth. "I'm a wanderer."_

There was nothing surrounding the horse and her rider. There was only the flat, boring plain, stretching in all directions as far as the eye could see, composed of smooth brown rocks and nothing more. Occasionally a few coarse plants could be seen, sprouting upward from between cracks in the rocks, but they were just as dull and brown as their surroundings.

With a heavy sigh, Link entwined his fingers in his mare's white mane. Rather, it had once been white, but was now a faint brownish color, caked with dirt and mud and dust. Removing his fingers from Epona's mane, he glanced down and studied his hand. It too was filthy, brown from dirt.

It seemed that everything around him was brown. Everything was so dismal.

He certainly wouldn't be finding any color in this place.

But was that really the reason he had left his home? The reason he had left Ordon, and Faron province, and the kingdom of Hyrule altogether? To him it seemed such a weak reason to leave home - just to search for color. But for what other reason had he left? What purpose was there to be found in all this pointless wandering?

_"A wanderer!" Seila seemed delighted, and her pretty features lit up with another grin. "It must be amazing, traveling from place to place, seeing so many things, not having anyone or anything to restrain you."_

_A grimace etched itself deeply into Link's features, almost against his own will. In an attempt to hide the expression, he stuffed another chunk of lamb into his mouth, and followed it with a bite of ham. The girl sitting across from him, her elbows planted firmly on the table and her chin resting in her hands, never seemed to grow impatient. That easy smile of hers remained on her pink lips the entire time, and she waited for him to swallow yet another bite of lamb and his frustration along with it. In truth, her simple, naive comment had irked him. _

_She spoke as if she understood him, but she didn't. _

_She didn't understand the loneliness that came with wandering from place to place, the emptiness, never feeling like he truly belonged anywhere, never feeling content, never feeling comfortable - not even in his own home._

_But she didn't mean any harm by it, he realized. Her eyes showed it as blatantly as words on the page of a book - she was so innocent and so sweet, so untainted by the darkness that he had faced. So unscarred by the world._

_He took a deep breath, his aggravation subsiding. "I suppose it can be interesting at times. I've seen quite a few things in my travels. But never take your home or your life here for granted," he said, not unkindly._

_"Oh." She blinked at him, her smile fading from her face, and she looked embarrassed. Even in the dim light of the tavern, he could see her cheeks turn pink, as though she were ashamed, though he knew not why. It wasn't like he had been trying to chastise her. "I don't take it for granted. At least, I don't think I do. I live a nice life, working here in the tavern with my mother and father." She shrugged, and leaned back a little in her chair, removing her elbows from the table's polished wooden surface. "Don't get me wrong - I really do like it here. It may not be very impressive to wanderers like you, who have seen lots of amazing things, but it's quaint and nice." Her smile returned again, though slightly smaller than before._

_"Seila!" a deep, booming voice called from across the room. A gray-haired man stood behind the tavern's counter, accepting three rupees from a patron who had just entered, the gems shimmering faintly in the scant torchlight. Another patron followed him, and then another. "Come help me clean some of these dishes!"_

_"Coming, father!" Seila called to him, then flashed one of her bright smiles in Link's direction. "Time to go, I guess. The tavern's going to get busy pretty soon." She stood from her chair, then pushed it back into place once she was on her feet. "Thanks for talking to me."_

_He smiled. "Thanks for listening." Not that he had said much. He cast a wary glance to the front door of the tavern, taking note of all the men trickling inside. Seila was right - it was getting busier. Link didn't like crowds - especially not crowds composed of drunk men - so he determined to escape the tavern as quickly as possible._

_"Hey Link," Seila said, breaking him out of his thoughts._

_"Hmm?" He blinked and glanced up to her, his blue eyes meeting her cheery bright green ones._

_"Maybe you should try returning home."_

The rocky plain seemed endless. The monotonous sight of flat, barren land stretching out around him with no end in sight was enough to make him even more tired than he usually was. Poor Epona's head hung down with every step she took. With a small frown on his lips, he stroked her neck as she plodded faithfully onward, refusing to stop unless her master directed her to do so.

Everything around him was so bleak, so featureless, so colorless.

Maybe Seila was right. Maybe he should return home.

But he couldn't. Hyrule was just as bleak as anywhere else. It wasn't big enough for him. Even with its large fields and tall mountains and scattered cities, it felt so small. Eventually it had begun to feel like a prison, despite the fact that it was anything but. Yet he couldn't deny the fact that some small part of him missed it dearly.

If he missed it so, then why was he wandering? What was the point of it all?

Really, the excuse that he was searching for color was just that - an excuse. An excuse to rationalize his impulsive, thoughtless decision to flee Ordon without a word to his friends.

But he couldn't return. He didn't know why. It was something inexplicable; a feeling that couldn't be denied, that dragged him ever forward, even though there was nothing waiting for him. Nothing of interest to be found in this bleak world. Nothing that could make him happy again.

He lifted his gaze, staring dully at the muted colors of the sunset. The purple that wasn't rich enough, the gold that wasn't bright enough, the pink that almost looked more like gray. Even the sun itself seemed to shine less fiercely than it usually did.

His tired fingers slightly loosened their grip on Epona's reins, and she kept trudging onward, across the desolate world.


	32. Exploration

**A/N: Uuummm... okay, this is the first time I've done this, but I seriously feel like I need to apologize in advance. I had a lot of fun writing this one, but it hasn't been thoroughly proofread/edited. Thus, it tends to drag on (over 9,000 words, wow, my longest so far) and be potentially boring/repetitive, and it's riddled with cliches u.u The only ****reason I'm posting this is because I just wanted to write something fluffy and silly, so... that's just what I did. I guess I'm just apologizing for the lack of quality. xD;**

* * *

:: | _Theme thirty-two,_  
:: | Exploration

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

It was dinnertime in the Knight Academy, which meant that the dining hall was teeming with students and teachers alike, piling food onto their plates and then hurrying to sit down and eat. It was rather noisy, what with everyone chattering happily to their friends.

A teenage girl with bright blonde hair and deep blue eyes dropped a large roll on her plate, alongside a decent-sized helping of various fruits and vegetables and a slab of meat. Then, with a smile on her face, she crossed the dining hall to a table in the corner, and invited herself to sit across from a boy, roughly her own age, with messy dark golden hair.

"Hey, Link."

The boy, who had been slicing a piece of fruit in half with his fork, stopped and glanced up to her. He paused for a second, then, at the sight of the expression on her face, he cocked a brow. "What is it _this _time, Zel?"

Zelda blinked at him with mock innocence. "What do you mean?"

Link rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. You've got that look on your face again - wide, excited eyes and a small smirk. It means you're up to something, and you're going to drag me into it."

She couldn't help giggling at that. "You know me too well!" Pausing for a moment to cast a furtive glance around the dining hall to make sure nobody was listening, she leaned forward across the table. "So, today I want to -"

"No, no, no." Link held up his hands and shook his head. "You're not dragging me into one of your crazy schemes again. Remember _last time?" _He didn't have to remind her exactly what she had done; the look in her eyes said that it was obvious she knew what he was talking about. "Your father grounded you for weeks! Do you want that to happen again? I mean, really, Zel -"

Zelda, tired of his rambling, picked up her roll and stuffed it into his mouth, cutting off whatever he had been about to say. She couldn't help grinning at the sight of the roll bulging out of his mouth, obscuring half of his face. Her grin only widened when he glared at her, one brow slightly raised in an expression of, _Really?_

"As I was saying," Zelda continued, as Link bit off a sizable chunk of the roll and placed the other half of it on his plate, "well, you know that cave? The one near the waterfall that everyone thinks is so dangerous?"

His shoulders slumped. "Oh, no."

She continued, heedless of his quiet groaning, and the way he started rubbing his temples in obvious distress. "I was thinking we could explore it. It'll be fun! Surely it isn't as dangerous as everyone makes it out to be... right?"

Still rubbing his temples, Link grumbled, "Why do I put up with you?"

"Because you love me," she teased, fluttering her lashes in an exaggerated manner.

She didn't notice his cheeks turn bright red, and she certainly didn't notice that he began rapidly stuffing his face with food in an attempt to hide the fact.

After he had suitably regained composure, Link cleared his throat. "I'm surprised you haven't explored the cave yet on your own, anyway, what with your talent for being in places you shouldn't be and making trouble."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Whatever." Link huffed and finished off the roll that Zelda had stuffed into his mouth.

Zelda's pink lips curled up into a smile. "And besides, where would the fun be in exploring the cave on my own? You're my best friend for a _reason, _you know. It's fun dragging you around with me everywhere I go! And you know, you're way too lazy. We need to work on that. You -"

Link, with a very slight smirk on his lips, skewered a particularly large piece of fruit with his fork, and then promptly stuffed it into Zelda's mouth.

Her eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed, her brows drawing together in a scowl. "Hey!" she huffed, but it was muffled due to the giant chunk of fruit in her mouth. She began trying to chew it, covering her mouth with a hand as she did so. "There. You got your revenge. Happy now?" Her voice was still muffled.

"Yes." His smirk widened, and he folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair, a very satisfied look on his face.

After swallowing the piece of fruit, Zelda continued, "So... The waterfall cave. Are you coming or not?"

Of course he wanted to come. He enjoyed being with Zelda, even when she was doing ridiculous things that could get them both in trouble. But in an attempt to seem as reluctant as possible, he said, "It's getting late. You wouldn't want to be exploring a dark, damp cave after nightfall, would you?"

"That's the perfect time to be exploring a cave!" Her bright blue eyes shimmered with excitement. "It's more adventurous!"

Unable to resist anymore, Link grumbled, "Fine."

She grinned. "Then let's go, hurry!"

"Let me finish my dinner!" he grunted in response, stuffing food into his mouth as he spoke.

"Hurry up," she complained, finishing off her own meal in record time. Once the both of them were done eating, Zelda quickly stood from her chair, motioning to her best friend. "Come on!" And she ran off without another word.

"Wait!" he called after her. "Our dishes..." With a frown, he glanced to their dirty plates that still needed to be washed off, then turned his gaze to Zelda's quickly retreating form. Rolling his eyes, he decided to follow after her.

He caught up with her outside the Knight Academy. She seemed not to slow her pace even once as she rushed down the stone stairs that led to the lower portion of Skyloft, and Link had trouble keeping up with her. They sped past the colorful bazaar, Zelda stopping to glance over her shoulder and call, "Come on, hurry!"

With his lungs burning, Link slowed to a stop and, panting, put his hands on his knees and tried desperately to catch his breath. Zelda planted her hands on her hips and studied him with her lips pressed into a disapproving line. "Honestly, you're so slow!"

Having no real comeback for that, Link simply grunted irritably in response and straightened up. After he took a couple more deep breaths, he set off again, with Zelda leading the way, grinning excitedly as she leaped down a small ledge and sprinted tirelessly toward the small crystal-blue lake at the edge of Skyloft. The only path across the lake was a series of gray stone pillars jutting up from the surface of the water. Zelda skipped across them almost effortlessly, but Link struggled a little, his foot nearly slipping off the edge of one of them. Only barely did he manage to regain his balance, grumbling in annoyance as he tried again to jump across and successfully managed to make it to the other side that time. "They really should just build a bridge there."

Zelda laughed. "Why would they do that? They don't exactly want to encourage people to go inside the waterfall cave, do they?"

"Then why are _we _here?" Link grumbled.

"Don't be a spoilsport!" She grasped his hand and dragged him toward the aforementioned cave, only a few meters away. For a moment he debated on protesting, but decided against it. Once Zelda had made up her mind about something, it was nearly impossible to persuade her otherwise. And not only that, but he had to admit to himself that he didn't mind her shenanigans too much.

They stopped in front of the yawning mouth of the cave, seeing nothing but darkness within. Over the horizon, the sun was beginning to set, painting the sky with glorious pinks, golds, and deep purples. A soft breeze toyed with Zelda's long blonde locks, and as she wiped a few strands of hair away from her face, Link heard her swallow heavily. Unable to resist, he smirked and gently prodded her ribs with his elbow. "Scared?"

"No!" she responded immediately, her cheeks heating. It was obvious from her tone of voice that she was lying.

His smirk turned to a grin. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

She scoffed derisively in response. "As if you could! You don't even pay attention in swordplay lessons! Even if you _had_ a weapon, you couldn't use it!"

"I'm insulted." Link clasped a hand to his chest and frowned, trying to assume a genuinely hurt expression but failing miserably. An obvious grin still lingered at the corners of his lips. "You give me far too little credit. How do you know whether or not I can wield a sword?"

With a raised brow, she poked his chest, making him flush. "Because I know _you, _and I know you're incorrigibly lazy."

Trying to hide his pink cheeks, he cocked a brow, mirroring her expression. "What does laziness have to do with anything?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "It has to do with everything! You - you're - Ugh, you're hopeless!" She tossed her hands in the air and, shaking her head, huffed. "Let's stop stalling! Are we going inside or not?"

He gave a nonchalant shrug, and in an attempt to irritate her further, he inspected his nails as if completely disinterested in anything around him. "Up to you."

"Hmmph." Zelda grasped his wrist and dragged him inside, Link unable to resist a quiet chuckle as she did so. Only a few moments ago he had been wary about her crazy idea to explore the cave, but now he was fine with it... for the most part. As long as they didn't get caught. And as long as they weren't killed by some terrible creature hiding inside the cave.

Maybe he wasn't okay with this after all.

But it was too late to turn back now. They were already stepping further into the cave, darkness engulfing them, the light growing fainter behind them with every step forward that they took. Zelda dropped her hand from his wrist, and entwined her fingers with his. Her hand was very slightly shaking. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," she whispered, her tiny voice echoing across the stone walls of the cave.

Link had to agree. The darkness was unnerving, and he swore he kept hearing strange noises, like the distant moaning of some wounded creature. Or maybe that was just the wind. He hoped that was it. A chill breeze swirled through the cave, making his hair stand on end, and he swallowed.

He tried to tell himself that it was just a silly, harmless cave. And all the people who spoke of how dangerous it was were all students of the Knight Academy - nothing more than teenagers, like himself. So it made sense that they were all probably spreading baseless rumors, just to scare people. The cave wasn't bad at all. There was nothing wrong with it. Or so he tried to tell himself.

Another terrible moan echoed through the cave, distant and keening. Maybe it was the wind. Maybe it was something far more sinister.

"Link..."

"Yes, Zel?"

Their voices were naught more than the barest of whispers, and yet still they echoed off the cave walls. "Um... maybe we should turn back."

And despite the fact that he agreed with her, Link allowed his pride to get the better of him. "Now why would we do that? _You're _the one that wanted to come here in the first place, right?"

"But it was a bad idea... We should go back."

"I thought you were the adventurous type. You've never backed out of one of your crazy schemes before. What's different about this one?"

_"Link." _Zelda took a deep breath, and he could tell he was beginning to get on her nerves. "I just don't feel too good about this."

"No, no, we'll be fine." He pointed to the path ahead of them, barely visible due to the darkness of the cave. However, there was a faint glow of orange light coming from ahead, around a bend. "See? Light."

Zelda swallowed nervously, but only nodded her head in response. "Okay... I guess we could see what's around that corner..."

They both took a deep breath and, tightly holding the other's hand, turned the corner.

Immediately a dark black shape sped towards them through the air.

Zelda shrieked. Tossing her hands up to protect her face, she stumbled backward, very nearly tripping over her own two feet. Link shouted in surprise and took a step backward, frantically casting his gaze around the damp, rocky floors of the cave, desperately trying to find anything that he could use to defend himself against the sudden attacker. Zelda shrieked again, as did the enemy, and Link quickly flicked his gaze upward to their attacker.

And immediately burst into peals of laughter.

There, flying in the air near Zelda's face, screeching and fluttering around frantically, obviously unsure of what was going on, was a keese. Certainly keese were nuisances, but nothing more. It was rare that they could actually do any damage to anyone at all.

Zelda tripped over nothing at all and landed, with a loud thump, on her rear. She barely caught herself with her hands, preventing herself from falling flat on her back, and groaned in pain. "What's so funny?!" she demanded, glancing up to the little keese, fluttering in confused circles above her.

"Are you all right?" Link managed to ask between chuckles, offering her a hand.

She glared at him through narrowed eyes, but accepted his hand and allowed herself to be hauled onto her feet. Seeing a wide grin still on his face, she huffed, "It isn't funny."

"Yes it is," he responded immediately, motioning to the little keese, bumping into a nearby stone wall and giving a screech of confusion. "Look at it._ That _thing made us scream like little girls. It's not even all grown up yet!"

Zelda cast a glance to the little creature, and assumed that it was barely as big as her hand. She couldn't help smiling at the sight of it. "Well... all right, that was pretty ridiculous." The keese flew up and perched at the edge of a hole in the stone wall that allowed the fading light of day to stream into the cave. "It's actually sort of cute. Where are its parents?"

Link cast a furtive glance around the cave, bathed in the orange light of sunset. "Hopefully they don't come out to attack us any time soon." One keese was little more than an annoyance. A group of them would be doubly annoying - something he didn't really want to deal with at the moment.

"No, really." Zelda studied the little creature from afar, and took a few cautious steps toward it. "In one of our textbooks - the one about the creatures of Skyloft - it talks about how keese don't actually leave their nest until they're fully grown. Not that _you'd _know that, since you never study." She shot him a playful glare, and he only shrugged in response.

The small creature met Zelda's eyes, and gave a little screech, but didn't move from its spot.

"So why are you out of your nest, little one? Are you lost?" Zelda took another step forward and offered her hand to the creature, as if expecting it to respond in some way. It didn't. Never taking her eyes away from the keese, she asked Link, "Do you have any food?"

He furrowed his brow. "Zel, what are you up to you now?"

"Come on, you've got to have some food with you somewhere! You're _always _eating!"

"I'm a growing boy!" he protested with a huff. "And I do have some candy I purchased at the bazaar -"

"Oh good! Let me have some!"

" - but first I need to know _why _you want it." He stubbornly folded his arms across his chest and frowned. "And if it's for some stupid, irrational reason that makes no sense, then I'm not giving you any."

"I'm going to feed the keese."

"...Yeah, okay, I'm not giving you any."

"Oh, come on, Link, please?" Zelda finally turned away from the little creature to face her best friend, and clasped her hands in front of her chest, pouting in the way that she knew made him cave in to her wishes.

He rolled his eyes. "Sweet Goddess... You know, Zel, someday, I'm going to stop putting up with you."

"I doubt it," she said with a grin as he reached into the pocket of his green trousers, producing a small cloth sack. He untied the white string that closed the mouth of the sack, and reached inside, pulling out a small piece of soft white taffy a moment later. "Thank you!" Zelda chimed as she took it from his hand. Link only sighed in exasperation.

At the sight of the candy laid in her palm, the little keese's eyes widened, and it tilted its head curiously to the side. After a few moments of hesitation, it fluttered down toward Zelda's outstretched hand, and perched on one of her fingers. She giggled quietly. "Yes, it's okay, go ahead, eat," she encouraged, in the softest, most soothing voice she could manage. The creature tilted its head at her for a moment, then quickly snapped its small jaws shut around the piece of taffy, immediately flying away as soon as it had the treat secure between its teeth, casting a loud hiss in Zelda's direction.

Link shook his head. "See? It doesn't like you."

His friend didn't respond for a while, electing to simply watch as the little keese quickly devoured its piece of taffy, and looked disappointed when it realized there wasn't any more of it.

"Link," Zelda said in a hopeful tone.

"Oh, no. No." He took a step back. "You're not giving it any more of my candy."

"But - but please?" She turned to face him, and pouted at him again.

"I'm not falling for that again."

"Link..."

"No."

"Come on, don't be so heartless!"

"I'm _not _being heartless, I'm just being reasonable."

"Since when are you ever reasonable?"

"Since when are _you _ever reasonable?"

"I'm certainly more reasonable than you! _You're _the one who never studies!"

"You're the one who ventures into dark caves and tries to tame keese."

Zelda huffed, having no comeback for that, and pressed her lips together into a line. "Fine, be that way." She took a step toward him, and he took a step back. Both of them stood still for a moment, and then Zelda lunged at him, trying to pry his hands away from his sack of taffy. Link refused to hand over his candy, and stumbled backward a few steps in a vain attempt to avoid Zelda. He hurriedly moved his candy behind his back, and with a huff of annoyance, she reached her arms around his waist and tried to tug his bag of taffy out of his hands. Still he kept an iron grip on it, so that even when she did manage to grab the bag, she couldn't pull it out of his hands.

Zelda only stopped when she realized what an awkward position she was in, her body pressed against Link's with her arms around him. She lifted her eyes to his, and realized their faces were only a couple inches apart.

Both of their faces burned bright red. Link unconsciously loosened his grip on his sack of taffy when he realized that all he had to do was lean forward a couple inches, and he could...

"Thanks," Zelda said, interrupting his thoughts. A smile curled her beautiful pink lips upward, and Link felt his bag of candy slip out of his grip. Zelda quickly took a few steps back from him, leaving him completely speechless. He blinked in confusion, not bothering to try and take his candy back from her. He didn't even attempt to say anything to her at all, instead opting to watch absentmindedly, heart hammering wildly, as she produced another piece of taffy from his bag and offered it to the little keese.

The young creature stared at her for only a moment before it flew into her palm and devoured the taffy. That time, it didn't bother to fly away again. Once it was finished with the treat, it looked up at her expectantly. Without hesitation Zelda reached into the white sack she had stolen from Link and gave it another piece of candy.

Link took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, nervously running a hand through his hair. "You owe me more taffy."

Zelda smiled. "All right, fine. That's fair." She fed the keese yet another piece of candy.

"Isn't that going to make it unhealthy?"

Zelda paused. "You're right," she mumbled, turning back to Link, the little creature still perched in her hand. A grin slowly spread across her features. "So let's take it back home and feed it something healthier!"

"Oh, sweet Hylia." Link buried his face in his hands and groaned. "You've got to be kidding me. What do keese even eat?!"

"I don't know, but I'll find out," she replied cheerily, her grin widening as the creature sniffed around her palm, trying to find more candy to eat. "Look, it's so cute! How can we possibly just leave it here?"

"But you - you want to take it home?" He lifted his face from his hands and peered at her skeptically.

"Yes," she said, as casually as if she were talking about the weather.

"You're insane."

"I know."

* * *

Link was late for class the next morning, as he always was. When he finally slipped into the classroom, ten minutes after the lesson had already begun, his dark golden hair was a messy mop on his head, his bangs out of control and falling into his eyes. His blue shirt, the exact same one he had worn yesterday - and the day before - was wrinkled.

In stark contrast to his unkempt appearance, Zelda's bright hair was ruler-straight as it always was, brushed until it shone, her white tunic and brown pants smooth and perfectly clean. She rolled her eyes as her best friend entered, and everyone else turned their eyes to him, frowns on their faces.

"Link," Instructor Owlan sighed, "late as usual, I see."

Groose and his cronies, sitting in the back of the classroom, snickered.

"Sorry, professor," Link mumbled, hurrying to his seat beside Zelda. Owlan began talking again, as if nothing had happened. Ignoring everything that his instructor was saying, Link leaned over and whispered to Zelda, "How's it doing? You know... _that._"

She smiled. "It's doing great! Even though it did kind of destroy one of my stuffed animals," she whispered in reply. "I wish I knew whether it was a boy or a girl... then I could give it a name." She stared blankly at the piece of parchment on the desk in front of her. "Want to come see it?"

"When?"

"During lunch."

Link frowned. "You know, I'm not too fond of the idea of missing lunch just to go look at your new pet keese."

Trying to stifle a giggle, Zelda lifted a hand to cover her lips and didn't respond for a little while. "You can always get a plate of food and take it with you. It'll be like having a picnic in my room!"

"Well, I guess -"

"Link," Instructor Owlan interrupted, "please stop distracting poor Miss Zelda."

Link's cheeks turned a faint shade of pink, and he looked down at his desk, embarrassed. "Yes, professor."

Zelda tried to hide her amused smile, but failed.

It felt like an age before class was over and the students were allowed to go fetch lunch. Link and Zelda were the first ones out of the classroom, hurrying to the dining hall and pilling food on their plates as quickly as possible. They fled the dining hall only a minute or so later.

"I'll race you," Zelda declared, and sped toward the stairs that led up to the second floor of the knight academy, seemingly heedless of the plate piled with food in her arms.

Usually, Link was never one to turn down a race against Zelda, even though he lost most of the time. But this was one of the few times where he shook his head to himself and refused to race her, moving up the stairs slowly and deliberately, careful not to spill the giant pile of food on his plate.

When he finally reached the top, he found Zelda, with a frown on her face, picking up a few scattered pieces of her salad that had fallen on the floor and carrying them to a nearby wastebasket. "You're late," she said.

"At least I didn't drop my lunch all over the floor."

"At least I have a way to get more!"

He blinked in confusion. "What -"

Before he even had time to register what was happening, Zelda poked her fork into quite a few of his salad leaves and transferred them over to her own plate, grinning widely.

"That's _my _lunch!"

"You don't mind sharing, do you?" she asked innocently.

He sniffed, trying to pretend to be upset with her. "It's just salad, so I guess I can forgive you. But you still owe me taffy."

"Yes, yes, and I'll get some to you. Later. But for now, come see Maya!"

"Maya?"

"The keese."

"You're naming it Maya? You don't even know if it's a girl or not."

She shrugged. "It'll be named Maya unless I find out otherwise." And then, without another word, she set off down the hall, and when she reached her room, she presented her plate to Link. "Mind holding this?"

He sighed, but said nothing, and accepted her plate, holding it in one arm while he balanced his own plate in the other. Zelda produced a key from her pants pocket and twisted it into the doorknob until it clicked open. When she pushed her door open and motioned Link inside, he handed her plate back to her.

"Maya!" Zelda called cheerily as soon as she entered her room, shutting the door behind her.

The little keese was hanging upside-down from one of her bookshelves, its eyes closed. At the sound of Zelda's voice, its ears twitched, and it cracked its eyes open. It gave an odd little squawk, as if displeased that it had been woken from its peaceful slumber.

"Does anyone know about it?" Link asked.

Zelda shook her head. "Just you and me. Here Maya," and she offered her plate to the young keese, "want some food?"

The creature squawked again, stretching its wings for a moment before it took to the air, fluttering toward Zelda's plate of food. It perched at the edge, sniffed the food, and then with an angry screech, swiped its wings across the plate, sending most of Zelda's lunch flying off the plate and onto the ground.

Link couldn't resist grinning. "See, you've spoiled it with candy. Now it refuses to eat actual food."

Zelda stared down at her scattered lunch with a scowl. "Oh, shush."

The keese screeched again and flew back to the bookshelf, where it perched on the edge and shut its eyes, promptly falling asleep again.

Then a knock sounded on the door, making both Zelda and Link jump. They shared a nervous glance, then Zelda set down her plate of food on a nearby chair and slowly advanced toward the door. "Zelda, my dear, are you in there?" It was Headmaster Gaepora's voice.

"Oh, no," Zelda mumbled. "He'll see Maya!"

"No he won't. Not if you're careful."

Taking a deep breath, she nodded once in response, then carefully pried the door open by hardly more than an inch. "Hello, father!" She tried to sound as cheery as possible. "What brings you here?"

"I checked down in the dining hall and didn't see you, so I came up here." He raised a brow. "Any reason that you don't want me seeing in your room?"

She stared at him for a moment, unsure of what to say. "Um... My... er, my room is messy. And I just didn't want you to see it so... um, messy."

Link tried not to snicker at all her nervous stuttering.

"Hmmm." Headmaster Gaepora's brow raised further. "I need to speak to you, my dear."

"Yes, of course, father! I'll be just a minute!" And without warning, she slammed the door, leaving her father on the other side to blink in confusion. She swallowed as she pressed her back to the door, and sank to the ground. "Link!" she hissed quietly. "What do I do?"

"What do you mean, what do you do?" He was unable to resist a grin. "You go talk to your father. Seems pretty clear to me."

"No, not that! He'll see Maya!"

"Maybe it's for the best. It isn't like you can keep a pet keese for forever, you know. It's a _keese, _after all." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"But -" She bit her lip and glanced over to the now-sleeping form of Maya, and sighed. "Will you hide her for me?"

"Hide her?" Link furrowed his brow. "What? Where?"

"I don't know, just hold her. It'll only be for a second, while I open the door and leave. Please?" And, of course, she had to give him that wide-eyed, puppy-dog expression that she was so good at, the one that could have made him do anything she wanted him to.

He sighed in exasperation. "Fine." He stepped over the bookshelf that Maya was hanging off of, and gently cupped his hands around her. Being woken from a peaceful slumber so abruptly, only to find herself in a stranger's hands, made her screech in protest. Link frowned. "Shhh."

As soon as Link had turned his back to the door, effectively hiding the keese from view, Zelda hurried to turn the knob, open the door, and slip outside, then she slammed it behind her.

Immediately after she was gone, Link felt small but needle-sharp teeth dig into his thumb. He couldn't help giving a short-lived but loud cry of surprise and pain, and his eyes shot down to Maya, her teeth still buried in the skin of his thumb. "What was that for?!" he spat, trying to pry the keese off his hand.

"What's that?" he heard a deep voice say on the other side of the door. And then the doorknob began to turn.

"No, father, don't -"

But it was too late. Headmaster Gaepora had already opened the door. Thankfully Link had managed to hide Maya behind his back before she could be seen. The headmaster frowned. "Link?"

"Good afternoon, sir." Link smiled, trying to act as casual as possible, even though his hands were hidden behind his back in an extremely non-casual manner and the little creature was crawling all over them.

"Good afternoon," the headmaster replied slowly, his voice laced with suspicion. He glanced to his daughter, his frown deepening. Zelda blinked innocently. "Why is Link in your room?"

"We were eating lunch together, father," she said sweetly.

"And that's... all?"

"Of course." Zelda smiled radiantly at him.

Maya chose that moment to squawk loudly.

"What was that?" Headmaster Gaepora demanded, turning to look at Link again.

"What was what?" Link asked, trying to assume the same expression of innocence that Zelda wore.

The headmaster narrowed his eyes. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing," Link and Zelda said simultaneously.

Shaking his head, Headmaster Gaepora finally decided to give up. "Enjoy your lunch, then." It was obvious he still suspected something strange was happening, but he turned and left nonetheless.

Once he was gone, Link and Zelda sighed in relief. "Bad girl," Link muttered to the little creature, still climbing all over his hand. He flicked his gaze upward and met his best friend's eyes. Both of them heaved another sigh, and as Zelda brushed a lock of her hair behind her long, pointed ears, Link stared down at Maya and said, "You really need to get rid of this thing, Zel."

* * *

Of course, Zelda refused to get rid of Maya, even when the keese destroyed most of her books by chewing on them and tossing them all over her room. And due to her stubbornness, the next incident happened only a couple days later.

It was the end of the week, when the Skyloftians took a break from work and school and gathered together at the foot of the Goddess statue to pay their respects to Hylia. Link, for once in his life, decided that he wasn't going to be late to the services, so had woken slightly earlier than usual to get dressed in less shabby clothes than he usually wore. He pulled a white tunic with gold embroidery over his head, put on a pair of green pants, and tied a golden sash around his waist that looked somewhat like a makeshift belt. He was about to put on his best pair of boots when there was a loud knock on his door. "Link," an all-too familiar voice hissed from the other side.

"What is it this time?" he grumbled to himself, making his way to the door and inching it open. "Morning, Zel. What's going on?"

She was all dressed in clothes that suited the upcoming services - a long white dress with intricate silver embroidery at the neckline, and a glimmering silver sash tied around her waist to complement it. Her hair was brushed perfectly as usual, and there was a white hairband on her head. Though the rest of her looked neat and perfect, her eyes were wide and filled with panic. "Maya got loose!"

"She what?" Link spluttered. He cast a quick glance down the hall, only to see Groose emerging from his room, dressed in a ridiculously pompous outfit adorned with puffy long sleeves and clashing, vivid colors. Their eyes met from across the hall, and Groose sneered. At the sight of him, Link didn't waste a moment in grabbing Zelda's hand and tugging her inside his room, then slamming the door shut behind her. "You mean we have a wild keese flying around inside the Knight Academy?!"

She swallowed. "Yes... we do."

"Augh! Goddess above, this is all your fault! If you could have just left the thing where it belonged, in the cave -"

"_You're _the one who gave me candy to feed her!"

"Oh, is that so? If I recall correctly, you stole my bag of taffy from me, completely against my will!"

"I just wanted to be nice to her!"

"It would have been nice if you would have left it alone!"

"You said that already!"

Link rubbed his temples and huffed. "All right, enough pointless arguing. What's done is done. You lost a Goddess-forsaken keese in the Knight Academy. Good job."

She snorted derisively and folded her arms across her chest, electing not to reply.

"The question is, what do we do?"

"We look for her?" Zelda shrugged.

Link frowned thoughtfully. "Or... maybe we could leave it alone. Someone might think it found its way in here by mistake. They wouldn't necessarily connect _us _to the keese flying around the halls of the academy... would they?"

The two of them blinked at each other. A moment of distressed silence passed between them. Then Zelda tossed her hands into the air. "Augh, I don't know what to do!" And she began pacing in a circle.

"Well, neither do I... Where should we start to look?"

"I don't know! Services start in less than a half hour. We don't have time to comb the academy, looking for a tiny keese..."

"How'd it get away in the first place?"

Zelda sighed, and stopped her pacing for a moment, only to resume it a couple seconds later. "I had just finished getting dressed for the day, and I opened my door to... well, you know, come see if you were awake. And she flew out."

"That's because the poor thing probably feels trapped, what with you keeping her in your room all the time. She doesn't belong with you, Zel, she belongs in the cave where you found her."

"I _know _that already," Zelda hissed, "and I know I shouldn't have kept her. But like you said, what's done is done, and there isn't much I can do about it now."

"We can look for her," Link reminded her.

"Remember? Services start soon, we don't have time."

Link took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. "Okay... let's stop and think about this. Where would be the most likely place for a keese to hide?"

Zelda bit her lip thoughtfully. "Er, somewhere dark, maybe?"

He nodded. "So, what's the darkest place in the Knight Academy?"

Both of them paused, unsure of the answer to that question. Generally, the academy was kept well-lit, and they couldn't immediately think of anywhere dark enough for a keese to hide. Finally, Link huffed and said, "Let's just... attend services. We can look for the accursed thing when we get back. And hopefully, if someone finds it, they won't connect it to us."

Zelda groaned. "What have I gotten us into?"

"A huge mess."

She brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry..."

He couldn't help grinning. "You know, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Before Zelda could respond to that, a loud shout of surprise reached their ears, coming from the hallway outside. It was followed by a deep voice desperately shouting, "Get it off, get it off!"

Link and Zelda both stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to do. "Well," Link sighed, "looks like Groose has discovered Maya."

With her lips pressed together, Zelda cautiously crept to the door and inched it open, only to see that Link was right - Maya was fluttering around Groose's head in frantic circles, screeching in confusion as the red-haired boy swatted at her.

"Oh my," Zelda sighed.

"Yeah, have fun," Link said, putting a hand on her back and gently shoving her out of his room.

"What? You aren't going to help me?" Zelda cast a pleading look over her shoulder at him.

"Your keese, your problem."

Zelda rolled her eyes, but decided to take care of the issue. "Shoo, shoo, get away from him!" she called to the little keese, who paid her no heed at all. With a frown on her face, Zelda planted her hands on her hips. "Groose, move out of the way! And stop flailing your arms like that!"

Groose, completely ignoring Zelda, kept flailing his arms wildly, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to swat away the poor creature flying around his head. With a huff of annoyance, Zelda grasped his arms and shoved him out of the way, which, for some odd reason, helped the situation. Maya stopped flapping in frantic circles around his head and instead settled down on Zelda's shoulder, directing a screech at Groose as she did so.

"What is that ugly thing doing in here?" Groose snarled, pointing a finger at the keese. He sniffed indignantly and straightened his posture, obviously trying to retain some kind of dignity and failing miserably. He reached a hand up and smoothed his ridiculous hair until it resembled a bright red spear poking out of the top of his head, ready to skewer anything that came in contact with it.

"None of your business!" Zelda replied with a huff, abruptly spinning on her heel and striding back into Link's room with her chin lifted high. She slammed the door behind her, and then released a deep, frustrated sigh.

Link stared at her. "What was that about?"

"I don't know, I'm just stressed. What should I do with Maya?" She glanced to the little creature still perched on her shoulder, and the keese returned her look with big, innocent eyes.

"I don't know, put her back in her cave?" He cocked a brow.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd say that. What else was I expecting? Comforting words?"

"Hey, I just like being honest."

"Oh, _of course _you like being honest." She prodded his chest, eyes narrowed. "Like that one time you stole an entire plate of meat pies from Henya's kitchen and blamed it on Groose."

Link flushed. "I was hungry!"

"You could have, oh I don't know, just _asked _her for a meat pie or two, right?"

He grunted in annoyance. "Stop trying to change the subject, Zel. What are you going to do with Maya? You need to return her to her rightful home... in the cave."

"Yes, you've said that already. Multiple times. But I just can't... look how attached she's gotten to me!" Maya, currently, was nibbling at a strand of Zelda's hair.

"She's probably just hungry."

"But I fed her this morning already."

"Look, the point is -"

"Yes, I _know _what the point is -"

They were interrupted when a loud knock sounded on the door. Both of them froze. "Think it's Groose?" Zelda whispered.

They didn't have to wait long to find out. "My dear... are you in there?" The headmaster's voice.

"Oh great, that's even worse," Zelda mumbled. She frantically plucked the young creature off her shoulder and gently pressed her into her friend's hands. "Take care of her for me, all right?"

"She bit me last time!"

"Don't be such a pansy!"

"Pansy? _Pansy?! _Zel -"

"Zelda?" came the voice from the other side of the door.

"Just take her!"

"Fine," Link relented with a scowl, gingerly cradling the keese in his hands, watching her to make sure she wouldn't bite him at any given second. She seemed docile enough, he supposed.

Zelda smoothed her hair and her dress, pasted an innocent smile on her face, and opened the door. "Yes, father?"

Her father was a large man, and he loomed over her, his eyes narrowed, suspicion written all over his features. "My dear... what are you doing here?"

"I was... er, waking Link up." She maintained her innocent smile, all while in the background, her friend was trying desperately to hide Maya from sight without seeming too conspicuous about it.

"Is that so?" The headmaster's voice was thick with disbelief. "I heard quite a bit of noise down here, and was wondering what was happening."

"Oh, um..." Zelda tried desperately to come up with a response, her smile never faltering as she racked her brain for _any _excuse at all. "Groose... his hair. It got messy. He was quite upset about it."

Headmaster Gaepora's brows lifted so far that they almost looked as if they were perched on the very top of his head. "Yes, well, I suppose he is rather finicky with his hair. But is that all?"

"Yes," Zelda insisted, in the most honest tone she could manage.

"You know, my dear..." Her father sighed and shut his eyes for a moment, rubbing his forehead. "You can talk to me. Please... won't you tell me if you and Link... well, if..."

"If what, father?"

Suddenly the headmaster seemed embarrassed. He cleared his throat awkwardly and shifted his weight. "Nothing, never mind. Are you going to attend services?"

"Of course! Link!" She spun around so quickly that her own hair whipped her in the face. She quickly brushed it away, giving a quiet grunt of mild irritation as she did so. "Are you almost ready?"

"Yeah, Zel! Just... give me a second." His back was turned to the door, and he was hopping awkwardly on one foot, trying to put on his finest boots with only one hand. The other hand was hidden from view - the one in which he held Maya.

Headmaster Gaepora covered his eyes with a hand, sighed heavily, and shook his head.

"We'll be right there, father!" Zelda declared in a tone far too cheery. "Don't wait up for us! Go save us a seat or something!" She cast him an over-the-shoulder glance and gave him her most charming smile.

"Yes, dear..." Rolling his eyes and mumbling something about "idiotic teenagers", he stepped away from the door and began ascending the steps that led to the second floor of the Knight Academy.

Link grunted in exasperation, his boot hanging awkwardly off his foot, and he set Maya down on his bed. She gave a quiet squawk as she watched him sit at the edge of his mattress and use both hands to properly pull on his boot. "This is probably one of the most ridiculous things you've ever done."

"I know." Her shoulders sagged. "What do we do?"

He shrugged, pulling on his other boot. "We'll leave her here in my room until we return from services, then we'll put her back in the cave."

Zelda bit her lip. "Oh."

He glanced up and met her eyes. "I know you got attached to Maya, but she doesn't belong here."

"I know that already... we've discussed this."

"All right... then, let's get to services. We don't want to be late."

Maya hopped onto Link's hand. He looked down at her, and she screeched at him - then promptly sank her fangs into his finger. "Ow!" Link leaped to his feet and grasped the keese's body, trying to tug her off his hand as gently as possible. He could hear Zelda giggling in the background, and he growled, "_Not _funny, Zel!"

* * *

After services were finished, some of the Skyloftians dispersed, leaving the giant, towering Goddess statue behind.

Link and Zelda were the first ones to escape the base of the statue where they held services, but they stopped when Headmaster Gaepora called, "Why are you two in such a hurry?"

Both of them shared a quick glance, then turned to the headmaster. "Um," Zelda started, "we were -"

"We were just," Link tried, but got no further.

"Well, you see, we're -"

"- excited to go read about the history of the Goddess Hylia," Link finished for her.

Both Zelda and her father stared at Link with raised brows. "You were?" the headmaster asked doubtfully. "No offense -" And here he paused to give a quiet laugh - "I've never known you to be the studious type, Link."

"Uh, well, I'm not," he hurried to reply, quickly glancing to Zelda for help. "But, I, uh -"

His friend came in to rescue him. "I was planning on helping him study, father. You know how he is, always falling behind in class... So I want to make sure that he knows everything he needs to know!" She smiled brightly.

"Ah." Headmaster Gaepora nodded, though he did seem very unconvinced. "Of course. But you will tell me if... Well, you..." He trailed off, then cleared his throat and straightened his robes. "I think I'll stay here to visit a few people. You two go ahead."

The two teenagers nodded their heads, then quickly turned and sprinted back for the Knight Academy, Zelda trying hard not to trip over the hem of her dress as she went. They threw open the doors of the academy and stepped inside, both of them panting lightly. "Hurry!" Zelda urged. "Let's go check on Maya!"

Without replying, Link hurried toward the staircase that led to the bottom floor of the academy, Zelda close behind. But they both froze in their tracks when they heard a terrible sound coming from the headmaster's office.

It was an all too familiar screeching sound, accompanied by the noise of what seemed to be parchment tearing apart.

"Oh, _no," _Zelda breathed, quickly spinning on her heel and scurrying toward the slightly-ajar door that marked the entrance to her father's office. She dared to peek inside, and her heart leaped into her throat at what she saw.

"What? What is it?" Link asked frantically, pushing past her and shoving the door open.

Both of them gaped in shock at the sight of Maya, fluttering in frantic circles around the headmaster's room, occasionally landing on a book laid out on his desk and tearing quite a few pages from it before taking to the air again. At one point she crashed into a book on a shelf that had already been hanging precariously over the edge, and at the sudden jolt of movement from the keese, the book toppled over and landed face-down on the floor. Maya, screeching loudly, continued tearing pages from the books on the headmaster's desk.

Zelda spun on her heel again to face her friend, who was standing slack-jawed beside her. _"Link!" _she spat. "_Why _is Maya in my father's study? _My father's study?!"_

"I have no idea! I mean... I might have... accidentally left my door open or something..." He shuffled his feet awkwardly and brushed a hand through his hair, refusing to meet Zelda's burning blue eyes.

"Do you know how much trouble we're in, Link?" With her jaw clenched tightly in rage, she harshly poked his shoulder multiple times.

He swatted her hand away, grimacing. "Whose fault is it that this stupid little thing is even in here in the first place?"

She blinked in response to that, and averted her eyes. "Well... yeah, but -"

"No buts about it! This is why you don't bring home wild beasts that you meet in caves!"

"Ugh!" Zelda tossed her hands into the air. "All right, let's stop blaming each other. I'm sorry for bringing home a keese. Now what do we _do?!" _Her voice was frantic, and her hands shook as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Well, I don't know!" Link stared as the little keese continued wreaking havoc, pulling books out of the shelves lining the walls, and beginning to destroy their pages too. "Maybe we should just... uh... Oh, sweet Hylia..." He ran a hand through his hair again and heaved a sigh. "Okay. Somehow we need to hide Maya, and -"

"Who are you going to hide?" came a deep voice from behind them. Unable to help it, both Link and Zelda gave a cry of surprise and whipped around to face the headmaster, his eyes wide with surprise and confusion. "What is this, Zelda?" he demanded, motioning to the creature destroying his large collection of books.

"Ummmm..." Zelda blinked at him, her eyes filled with terror, and she couldn't conjure up a response.

"Is _this_ what you've been hiding from me? A baby keese?"

His tone was so demanding that Zelda found herself unable to resist replying. "Y-yes." She hurried to add, "I'm so sorry, father, I didn't mean -"

"Wait, wait..." The headmaster furrowed his brow, seemingly very confused. "So this is all you've been hiding from me? Nothing... _else?"_

Zelda mirrored his confused expression. "What you do mean, something else? What else would we be hiding?"

She was surprised when his cheeks turned pink. He covered his mouth with a fist and coughed loudly. "Nothing, nothing at all!" He cleared his throat quite a few times, then straightened his posture and narrowed his eyes, trying to seem angry. "Now! Where did you find it? The keese."

Link and Zelda shared a glance, and they both swallowed nervously. "The cave by the waterfall," Link replied, his voice barely a mumble. He dropped his gaze to the ground and awkwardly shuffled his feet.

Headmaster Gaepora shook his head in disbelief, massaging his forehead. "Young people these days," he muttered. "Now, this... beast of yours is destroying a lot of my very valuable property. You two need to make this up to me. Understood?"

"Yes, of course," they both said, their voices barely above a whisper.

"Good. So you'll start out by getting rid of this - this _thing _-" He motioned to Maya - "and then you'll both block off that cave to discourage visitors. And then you'll both earn enough money to pay me back for my damaged property."

Link and Zelda slowly turned to look back at all the ruined books in the room, scowls on their faces. "And um, sir," Link asked timidly, "how much do you think that'll cost?"

Headmaster Gaepora narrowed his eyes. "A lot."

* * *

"I miss Maya already." There seemed to be a perpetual pout on Zelda's face as she handed the wooden stakes, sharpened on one end, to Link.

He couldn't stand her sad expression. It made him want to wrap his arms around her, and he couldn't very well do that - not while his tunic was drenched in sweat due to the tiring work he'd been doing of driving wooden stakes into the ground. And he especially couldn't do such a thing with Instructor Horwell watching. Link accepted the stake from Zelda and tried to give her a small smile. "She's back where she belongs."

"I know, but..."

Horwell, standing only a few meters away, smiled and called out in a cheery voice, "Don't stop working, Link!"

Link rolled his eyes but said nothing in response. Instead he shoved the sharpened end of the stake into the ground in front of the waterfall cave and began hammering it into the soft dirt. The idea was to block off the cave in order to discourage people from entering. Link thought that the wooden stakes wouldn't help much; after all, if someone really wanted to get inside, they'd probably manage to climb over the top of them or something.

Still pouting moodily, Zelda handed Link another stake. Shooting a quick grimace in Horwell's direction - the infuriating man was smiling as if this was the most entertaining thing he'd ever seen - Link began to drive the wooden stake into the ground. The instructor hadn't lifted a finger to help. He had only stood there the whole time. His job was to make sure Link and Zelda didn't do anything rash - like enter the cave again.

After the final stake had been driven into the ground, Link stepped back and wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. With an irritated grunt, he called to Horwell, "Are we finished here?"

The instructor lifted his hands in a sort of shrug. "I suppose," he replied, that insufferable smile still plastered on his lips. "I'd like to eat lunch now, and I assume you two would as well, so let's not waste any more time!" And without another word, he headed back across the lake, using the rock pillars to do so, looking quite ridiculous as he clumsily hopped from one to the next.

"Let's go eat," Zelda said with a dejected sigh, turning away.

Link frowned. "Come on, Zel, it isn't that bad. It was just a keese."

"I know," she sniffed. "But she was my keese. And she was so cute..."

"But... keese don't make very good pets."

She actually laughed at that. "I figured that out the hard way, didn't I?" She turned toward him again, a small smile on her face. "At least I have you."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, wonderful. It's nice to know that I'm just as good as a keese."

Her smile only widened. "You're much better than a keese, silly! At least you don't destroy books!"

"I try not to." He grinned.

She allowed herself to give a quiet giggle. Then she glanced down to her feet, shifted her weight, and nervously clasped her hands in front of her. "Link."

"Hmm?" He brushed his sweaty bangs out of his eyes.

"Thanks. For everything. For being my best friend even when I get us both into trouble all the time." She lifted her eyes to meet his, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "So... um, yeah. Thanks, is just what I wanted to say."

Unsure of how to respond, he stared at her. "Uh, no need to thank me... I'm just..." He trailed off awkwardly, not even quite sure of what he had been about to say.

With a wide smile, Zelda entwined her fingers with his, and decided that nothing more needed to be said.

He smiled in return. And, for just a moment, she allowed herself to lean her head against his shoulder. For a little while they both stood there like that, neither one of them quite sure what to do, but then Zelda was rewarded when he brushed a lock of her hair away from her face with a gentle touch that made her heart beat wildly. She closed her eyes, relishing the moment.

Then her stomach grumbled loudly. Her eyes fluttered open, and she quickly removed her head from his shoulder, awkwardly clearing her throat. "Um... Let's go get lunch."

Cheeks red, Link nodded in response. "Yeah, sounds good." Both of them started walking toward the edge of the lake, and they stopped when they reached it, staring at the stone pillars leading the way across. "You know, Zel..."

She lifted her bright blue eyes to his. "Hmm?"

"You still owe me taffy."


	33. Seeing Red

:: | _Theme thirty-three,_  
:: | Seeing Red

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

The sky is red again.

The third day is always like this. I have been reliving the same three days over and over again, in what feels like a vain attempt to save Termina. Even though time itself is on my side, it feels almost as if there is no hope for this forsaken land. This forsaken land that is devoid of joy. This forsaken land filled with death. This forsaken land that has forgotten its Goddesses.

Though I wear many different faces, my true identity remains the same. I am still a hero. I have no obligations to this land, and yet it is my duty to save it. How can I leave such a helpless land to fend for itself when I am the only one that is capable of rescuing it from its terrible fate?

I am not being arrogant in that declaration. Truly I am the only one who can save this land. I have seen evidence of that time and time again. Even the formidable Goron warrior Darmani; even the descendant of the Zoran heroes of old, Mikau; even the mysterious mask salesman who seems to transcend time itself; none of these can save Termina. They have placed all their burdens upon my shoulders.

I'm tired of being a hero. I'm just tired in general. Sometimes I want nothing more than to sleep, without the imminent doom of the world hanging over my head. But I can't. I have to be the hero. I have to save this land.

The bells of Clock Town toll, their mournful cries ringing across the fields and far into the distance. I stand beneath the bell tower, watching multicolored fireworks explode in the sky. It should be a joyful sight. Tonight is supposed to be a festival, an exciting occasion when people from all over the land of Termina crowd into Clock Town to purchase exotic things, and watch the fireworks and the performers of all different kinds from all over the world.

But the town is mostly empty. There is no joy to be had here, only a feeling of crushing loneliness. And there is only the face of the horrible moon, teeth bared, hungry eyes watching the town, never blinking.

The bells toll again.

_"Play this song, and it will heal all sorrows. It will heal grief and pain, and the scars of ages past."_

_In my hands I clutched the mask of a Deku child. Before me stood the strange man who called himself the Happy Mask Salesman, a perpetual smile on his face, one that never left his lips even when it should have. And in my mind played over and over again the strange song he had just taught me._

It's cold. But then again, this land is always cold - especially on the third day. On this day, when it feels as if the world loses its life, its very breath. And I lose my breath too, when I look up at the terrifying face of the moon. If I watch it long enough, I can see it creeping down ever closer toward me.

Midnight has descended upon this cursed land, and the sky should be a deep black, with stars glittering in the heavens. But there are no stars. And the sky is not black. It is bright red. No, not the pleasant type of red that a beautiful sunset casts over the world. This is a deep, cruel crimson. A crimson reminiscent of blood. An unnatural crimson that blankets Termina in hopelessness and death, and sends shivers down my spine.

The bells toll.

_"You remind me of my son."_

_The Deku butler stood before me, a distant look in his eyes, as if he were lost in his own memories. I watched him from the eyes of a Deku boy, though it was not my true form. I wore the face of someone else._

_"He looks almost just like you. He left home a while ago and has never returned..."_

When you stay in this forsaken land long enough, like me, you begin to learn things. Unpleasant things. You discover things that perhaps you wish you never knew.

For example, the thought that maybe, just maybe, that little tree I saw when I first stumbled into Termina was not so unimportant. At first I thought nothing of it, even though its face looked uncannily similar to mine when in my Deku form.

The bells toll.

_"You're Darmani."_

_The Goron's wide mouth was curled into a happy smile. Though the world around us was relentlessly cold, snow falling persistently from the heavens, his eyes were filled with warmth. "I thought you were dead," he breathed happily, and his smile turned to a grin. "But I should have known better! The great hero Darmani can't die! You have to save us from this winter!"_

_I smiled. "And I will," I promised him._

_The Goron shivered, and rubbed his arms in an attempt to return some semblance of warmth to his body. Yet despite how obviously uncomfortable he was, that grin remained on his face, filled with undeniable joy. "Thank you Darmani. Thank you."_

But I am not Darmani.

I wear many faces, none of them my own. Hardly anyone in this world knows my true face. I cannot show it to them. I have to be someone else, for their sake.

I turn away from the clock tower, and set off along the path that leads to East Clock Town. A little winged creature trails along behind me, her faint glow illuminating my path. We say nothing to each other.

The bells toll again behind me.

_For the first time in days, the Zora woman sang. Her voice was beautiful; strong and resonating yet sweet. She sang along to the notes I strummed on my guitar._

_"My voice has returned," Lulu said when the song was finished. She looked at me with what seemed to be confusion. "It's been so long... What's happened?" She placed her hand on my arm. An arm that was not my own. After all, I wore the face of someone else. "Mikau... my eggs, they're safe?"_

_"They're safe," I assured her._

_A smile of utter relief crossed her lips, and I gave her a smile to match it. In truth, I was relieved too, even though, by any logical conclusion, I shouldn't have cared about the eggs. I had no reason to. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, I did._

_Tears brimmed in Lulu's eyes. "Oh, Mikau. Thank you."_

_I gave a simple nod in return._

_"I'm so glad they're safe. And... and I'm so glad you're safe too," she murmured, amethyst eyes peering up at me, filled with unmatched relief and happiness._

But I am not Mikau. And he isn't safe. He died days ago. But how is she to know that, when I wear his face?

I stop in front of the Stock Pot Inn, a pleasant little place, one that's always bustling with activity. The rooms are always filled, and it can prove difficult to claim one for your own unless you reserve it weeks, possibly even months in advance.

Now, though, it is abandoned. Not even the owners have stayed. They fled town long ago, even though escape is useless. No one will be able to avoid the apocalypse of the moon once it has fallen. No one will be able to avoid the wrath of the demon Majora.

The little fairy Tatl lands on my shoulder. Neither of us say anything. We only stare at the empty inn, standing completely alone in the streets, the red midnight sky blazing above us.

The bells toll.

_The boy stood before her, staring up into her beautiful face. With lips pressed together into a thin line, she knelt down before the child, taking his hands into her own, gazing deep into his eyes. He had once been a man, but had been cursed into the form of a child. I could see the utter shame and embarrassment in his eyes as he faced the woman who was to be his wife, as he inhabited the pathetic body of a ten-year-old._

_"Anju," he whispered, "I'm so sorry."_

_"Kafei..." Anju sighed but said nothing more. She simply shut her eyes and held tightly to his hands. Silence passed between them for a long moment, the only sound being the mournful call of the bells outside. It was midnight, and the unnatural red sky cast a crimson glow through the window of the room. "I forgive you," she finally said, breaking the stifling silence, a tiny, trembling smile on her lips._

_Kafei said nothing. He only returned her smile. Another silence passed between them, but this one was more kind and companionable instead of cold and heavy. And then, with their hands still joined, they turned their faces toward me._

_Anju heaved a shuddering sigh. "We..." She glanced at Kafei, and an unspoken understanding passed between them. She took a deep breath and continued. "We will greet the morning together."_

_But there would be no morning for them to greet._

_I stepped outside of their room, and played the song that would return me to the dawn of the first day._

It is tiring, trying to save as many lives as possible during the short three-day time period I have before the moon falls. But inevitably, I cannot save them all. Someone will die. Many people, in fact. And all my work is undone when I play the Song of Time, which sends me back to the first day. And so I have been reliving these accursed three days over and over again, with seemingly no end in sight to this relentless cycle.

What is the point of it all? Why rescue the Deku princess and save Woodfall? Why return Snowhead to spring? Why save Lulu's eggs and cleanse the sea? Why when all is for naught after I play that awful song?

Why am I, of all people, chosen for this? For this misery and this suffering and this endless heartache?

"Link."

I am broken out of my thoughts at the sound of my name. I glance to my right shoulder, the one Tatl is sitting on. "What is it?"

She hesitates. The little fairy's wings fold up, and she hangs her small head, remaining silent for a long while. "Shouldn't we go back now?"

A frown crosses my lips and I find my eyes drawn to the red sky. The moon's cruel face is closer to this land than ever before, and it almost completely obstructs the crimson sky surrounding it. I am swallowed up in its terrible shadow, with no means of escape.

Unless I play that awful song; the one that begins the cycle anew again and again.

I say nothing to Tatl. I only reach into the satchel that hangs at my side, and produce a small blue ocarina. I lift the instrument to my lips, allowing my eyes to drift shut as I play the simple yet ringing notes of the Song of Time.

In the background, creating a harsh and discordant accompaniment to the song, the bells toll.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, yes, "seeing red" is a term to refer to anger, I _know _that. But I wanted to take it in a different direction, in honor of Majora's Mask 3D, because I love that game dearly.**

**So yeah, there ya go. x3**


	34. Shades of Gray

:: | _Theme thirty-four,_  
:: | Shades of Gray

* * *

: Rated K+ :

* * *

Terrifying. Dark. Hateful. These were the words Link would use to describe the horrid Shadow Beasts.

They charged at him, legs moving like liquid, peering deep into his soul despite their eyeless faces.

The hero gathered his resolve, like he had done plenty of times before, and drew the Master Sword at his back.

Though these creatures were of the purest darkness, he could not fight them without remembering, every single time, that these were Midna's people, transformed against their will into something forced into the servitude of the evil Usurper King.

What had they done to deserve it?

Nothing.

His heart cried out at the thought of fighting them, emotions swirling turbulently inside him. What if some of these beasts had been children? What if some had been innocent mothers, raising their families as best as they could? What if some had been kind fathers, supporting and loving their families?

Now they were naught more than shadows, their only purpose - to kill.

Every time he drew his sword on one of the beasts, the hero could practically _feel _Midna's sorrow and pain. He could never understand the extent of the regret she must have felt, knowing that her negligence; her willingness to trust Zant had caused this. And there would be no relief for her in the near future.

Yet she kept her feelings bottled inside. And so did he.

Link's sword sliced through his enemy. And yet, though guilt and grief coursed through him, and anger at the thought that the Goddesses had chosen him for this horrific mission, he felt a strange sense of relief. For these poor twisted beasts, living miserable half-lives of forced servitude, death must have been a release for them.

Their corpses fell to the floor, screeching in agony, and he thought he heard Midna whisper a small protest. A single word that could do nothing to stop the death that surrounded them at every turn. Her solid black form leapt up from his shadow, hands clutched over her chest.

Twilight had fallen, casting golden light onto the bodies of the Shadow Beasts.

Many a time Link had tried to convince Midna - and himself - that this was for the best. That he was freeing these innocent people from their prison.

But was it all a lie?

How was he to know?

His heart clenched, and he sheathed his sword at his back, turning away from the bodies of the poor beasts. Midna floated along behind him, not speaking a word, but not returning to hide in his shadow either.

A chill breeze tousled the young hero's hair and sent shivers up his spine. He wrapped his arms around himself and frowned, casting a glance in Midna's direction. She would not meet his eyes. And he couldn't blame her. Perhaps he was more of a monster than the Shadow Beasts.

Why had he been chosen for this? Why was he, of all people, supposed to be the hero? To make hard decisions where there was no right answer? How was this fair?

Why were the Goddesses so cruel?

His jaw clenched in anger at the thought, and he felt himself shiver again as the chill breeze returned. This was not the first time he had felt enraged at the torture the Goddesses put him through. He could feel it blackening his heart over time, sending him spiraling down into insanity, and he could not stop falling.

Midna peered at him, and their eyes met that time. He tried to smile, and to his surprise, so did she. Perhaps he was doing the right thing.

And perhaps not.

* * *

**A/N: So you're probably wondering where I've been. And why I returned with a pathetic, tiny thing like this. Well, first off, I was trying to write a huge AU thing for this with a super-complicated plot and everything. It didn't work. I lost motivation and it never happened. Second off, I was trying very hard to get an actual full-fledged fic off the ground, which I finally did, and I uploaded here! So I'm pretty happy about that. Hopefully all goes well with that. Anyway, sorry about the wait for this stupid little thing, and thanks for reading!**

**About the oneshot itself - since I was just struggling too much to get the stupid complicated AU off the ground, I deleted it all and went for a more emotional... thing. Since Twilight Princess is my comfort zone, I decided that's what I would write about. And I decided to do a bit of an experiment - write something in 15 minutes without editing at all; the whole time listening to Liszt's _Totentanz _(piano ****version) in the background and just write based on whatever the music made me feel. This happened. I edited typos and such, but almost nothing else, so if this feels insane and all over the place, that's why. This is basically my way of trying to be less horribly nitpicky about my writing and just let loose.**

**Sorry for this stupid ramble of an author's note, and sorry again for the long wait just for this silly, short thing that doesn't even make sense, lol. I'll try to do better in the future!**


	35. Forgotten

:: | _Theme thirty-five,_  
:: | Forgotten

* * *

: Rated K+ :

* * *

"And here is your room," the princess said with a wide grin, motioning to a wooden door that had intricate carvings displaying the Golden Goddesses creating the world. She turned the handle and pushed the door in, showing him the lavish room beyond, decorated by many tapestries and carpets, with a large bed in one corner and a hearth in the other surrounded by chairs and couches.

The ten-year-old Link stared into the room and swallowed. It looked comfortable. Too comfortable. Like a lie.

"I can't thank you enough," Princess Zelda continued, meeting his blue eyes with her own large, innocent ones. "How could you have possibly known about Ganondorf's scheme? Did you, too, have a vision?"

Link pressed his lips together into a thin line, unsure of how to answer. He couldn't tell her the truth - that he had lived a future rife with grief and pain.

And, according to the rest of Hyrule, that future didn't exist.

Zelda sighed. "You don't have to tell me right away. I have to be going, anyway - Impa will be looking for me - but I'll speak to you later if you don't mind that."

The young boy only smiled and nodded. "Sure. Thank you for the room."

The princess gave him a very earnest smile, her blue eyes sparkling. "See you later, then, Link!" After waving to him, she turned on her heel and hurried down the stone hallway of her castle.

Taking a deep breath, Link turned to the beautiful room before him. For a moment he hesitated, then he entered, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

The day shone brightly, the sun streaming in through the tall windows, chasing away the shadows in Zelda's chambers.

"Impa doesn't like me to play with dolls," the princess said, placing a small porcelain girl into a tiny wooden house. "But my father gave me this dollhouse for my birthday, and I love it. Isn't she so pretty?" With a smile, Zelda lifted up the porcelain girl and showed it to the young boy who stood a little off to the side.

Link forced a smile and nodded. "Yes, princess, she is."

"You don't have to call me princess all the time!" said the young girl in response, with a tiny giggle. "Just Zelda is fine. Would you like to play with me?"

Link pressed his lips together into a thin line. "But pr - ...Zelda. I... I really shouldn't be here. Impa would be upset..."

"Then I can take my dollhouse out into the courtyard and play there with you." Zelda's smile was wide and genuine as she lifted up the little doll and her house, then set off toward the door of her chambers. She stopped when she realized Link hadn't moved an inch, and cast a glance at him over her shoulder. "Aren't you coming?"

He swallowed and shifted his weight. "I suppose so."

"Then be a gentleman and open this door for me, if you'd please. I can't exactly do it with my arms full like this." The princess glanced down to the wooden dollhouse in her arms.

After another second of hesitation, Link stepped forward and held open her chamber door as she walked out into the light gray stone halls of the castle. She turned a corner and Link followed, then they descended a narrow spiral staircase and traversed a few more hallways until they reached the door to the courtyard. Link opened this one too, and then he and the princess stepped outside into the warm morning.

With a content smile on her lips, the princess set down her doll and the little house, then sat down on the grass and spread out her skirts to cover her. Lifting her blue eyes to Link's, she motioned to the dollhouse. "Would you like to play now?"

"I..." He didn't want to disappoint the princess, so he knelt down on the grass and nodded.

Zelda beamed and produced another figure from a different room in the dollhouse. Link hadn't noticed it until now. Like the other doll, it was porcelain, but it was much smaller. The princess handed it to the young boy beside her, and he accepted it, staring at it in confusion. "...What do I do with it?"

"You play with her, of course! Like this." Zelda brought her doll up to face his, and pitched her voice a little higher. _"Hello, I'm Maylin! What's your name?"_

"Er..." Link hesitated. "Dolly...?"

"Dolly?" Zelda gave him a very disapproving frown, and shook her head. "No, no, Link, that's not a good name! Choose something better. All right, pretend that never happened. Start over."

_Pretend that never happened._

_Start over._

_I wish I could, Zelda, I wish I could._

Lost in his own mind, the young boy stared at the grass beneath him, his eyes dull and faraway. Images raced through his mind - images of a somber woman with deep blue eyes, filled with immeasurable pain. Images of corpses strewn across the fields and the streets of the once-lively Castle Town. Images of his bloodstained hands -

"Link?"

He jerked his head up, meeting those somber, deep blue eyes - no. No, these eyes were different, softer and untouched by the horrors she had forgotten. "Yes, princess?" he asked, forcing a smile.

"Did I offend you? I'm sorry."

"No. I'm fine," he replied, though his voice was a little too quiet.

Zelda smiled sweetly at him. "Her name is Analia, by the way." She pointed to the doll he held.

"Analia," Link repeated, staring down at the tiny doll in his hands.

_Maybe it's for the best that she's forgotten._

* * *

"Link?"

His eyes flashed open at the sound of the quiet voice. He sat up in his bed, glancing across the room to see that the fire was slowly dying, leaving only embers in its wake. Turning his head, he saw a familiar girl standing in the doorway.

"Zelda?"

He thought he could see her grin, but it was late and the room was dark, and he couldn't tell. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I couldn't sleep," the young girl responded, "and I wondered if you wanted to come outside with me. It's a very nice night."

With a sigh, Link threw off the covers and stood. "Of course, princess."

"Zelda."

He glanced over to her, and then realized what he had said. "Yes. Of course... Zelda." He straightened out the simple, loose white tunic he'd slept in, then crossed the room to stand by her. With a sweet smile she turned on her heel and led him out into the halls of the castle. He followed obediently as they headed in the direction of the castle courtyard, then turned down a separate hall at the last moment that led to the gardens.

The gardens were large, colorful, and beautiful, filled with all sorts of trees, spring blossoms burdening their branches. Most of the ground was taken up by hundreds of elegant flowers, with a small grass pathway leading between them. A bright full moon shone down upon the world below, illuminating everything in gentle silver.

As Zelda strolled along the grass path and sniffed at some of the flowers, she said to Link, "Now will you tell me how you knew about Ganondorf's scheme? I'm very curious, you know!" She turned to him with a wide grin. "And if you're worried about anybody listening in, then it's fine! See? We're all alone out here. No guards anywhere." She motioned to the gardens around them, devoid of people except for themselves.

Link pressed his lips together. "I... I'd rather not, prin - Zelda. I'm sorry."

The little girl pouted. "Why not?"

"Because I just..." The images flashed through his head again. His sword, dripping with the blood of a human man. The man who had destroyed Hyrule, but a human man nonetheless. Lightning flashed across the darkened world, for a moment illuminating the rubble of Ganondorf's castle, and the blood staining Link's hands and his tunic.

Then the memory changed. He stood before a beautiful woman who held herself tall and regal despite her suffering. She wanted to give him a second chance to live out his childhood. To rip everything away from him that he had worked so hard for. To tear away his very life and soul -

"No, no, I can't," Link told her firmly, trying to keep his voice from shaking, trying to resist covering his ears with his hands and screaming to drown out the memories. It wouldn't work anyway.

"But why not?" she repeated.

_Why not? Because _-

The memories began flashing through his head again. With wide eyes, he shook his head. "I just -"

"You can trust me, if that's what you're worried about."

_"No!" _he snapped at her, narrowing his eyes and clenching his hands into fists. "I won't speak of it. Leave this matter alone!"

Immediately he regretted the words, as Zelda's face fell and she stared at him with her eyes displaying obvious hurt. "You... you're mean," she mumbled quietly, clasping her hands in front of her and staring down at the ground.

_She acts like she's so innocent. So unscarred by this world. _Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. "I... I'm sorry."

She said nothing in response.

_I can't be here for a second longer. Not around her... _

And so, without another word, he spun on his heel and hurried back into the castle, leaving the young princess standing alone in the gardens.

* * *

Link was not like any normal ten-year-old. His lips were almost always curved into a frown, and as the weeks passed, it became obvious that his smiles were insincere. His blue eyes were far too dull and listless for someone so young; like a man that had suffered through far too much battle.

Impa noticed all of this.

"I do not think it is wise for you to be around the princess so often, child," she spoke from the shadows.

Link, who had been practicing his swordplay on an invisible foe in the courtyard, jumped at the voice and whirled to face the woman, who stepped out from the shadows with arms folded across her chest. He heaved a sigh and his shoulders slumped. "Impa. I should have known it was you."

She cocked a brow. "We have hardly spoken to one another, boy. Were you, for some odd reason, expecting me?"

He gave her a strange look, as if he had said too much. Averting his gaze, he pressed his lips together into a thin line. "...No."

Impa only stared at him intently for a moment longer, studying everything about the small child. His frail body, his still slightly pudgy face, the slump of his shoulders, his tiny sword that looked more like a dagger than anything. Physically, he was a child. But his eyes told a different story.

_But what are they trying to say? What is this boy's history?_

Sheathing the small sword at his back, Link said, "But, as you were saying?"

Impa cleared her throat. "I'm going to be blunt about this. I do not want you seeing Zelda anymore. I know about the night that you both snuck off into the garden together. It isn't good for her... or for you."

"You're right." She was surprised by how quickly he had responded, not hesitating or acting guilty at all. Link lifted his blue eyes to meet her red ones, and grimaced. "She isn't healthy for me." And then, without saying anything else, he turned and left the courtyard.

Impa watched him leave with narrowed eyes, her arms still folded across her chest. _A strange child indeed._

* * *

The plush bed wrapped Link with welcoming arms, enveloping him in layers upon layers of warmth and comfort. Across the large room, a fire blazed in the hearth, driving away the shadows and the chill of night.

Despite how comfortable the place was, Link couldn't sleep. He stared blankly into the crackling flames.

They were all lying to him. Or was he lying to himself? He couldn't even tell anymore.

_Pretend that never happened._

_Start over._

He was a doll, living in a dollhouse, pretending that all his suffering and grief had never happened. Pretending to start over. Pretending to be ten years old again in a world that had never experienced pain like he had.

_It's for the best. Why am I not happy for Hyrule and her people? I suffered through so much all so that they could be freed from their grief. I succeeded. And I got a chance to go back in time and restart my life._

_It's the typical happily ever after that everyone wishes for in fairytales. It's perfect._

_Why am I not happy?_

He rolled over onto his other side, his back to the warm fire, and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force himself to drift off to sleep. But he couldn't. He couldn't stand to be in this dollhouse for a second longer, playing this ridiculous game of pretend.

Link shot up in bed, throwing the layers of blankets off of him and setting his feet on the carpet-covered floor.

_Impa isn't too good at this game of pretend. She knows things._

He stood up and crossed the room, throwing off his nightclothes and exchanging them for his green tunic, hat, and boots.

_The way she looks at me. She knows. She just won't admit it to me._

His fingers trembled as he reached for his tiny, pathetic sword and strapped it to his back.

_But Zelda. She's perfect at hiding the grief in her eyes. It's as if she's never experienced any pain in her lifetime._

Link could feel his legs trembling beneath him, and cursed aloud at his tiny, weak frame.

_The princess acts so innocent and carefree._

A slow smile curved his lips upward, as he stared out the window into the darkness of night.

_She's the best actress of them all._

Laughter echoed across the walls of the room, and the boy blinked in surprise. He cast a quick glance at his surroundings, wondering how he hadn't noticed that someone else was in his room, laughing at him - only to realize, with a start, that it was _him._ It was a cold, humorless laugh. Maybe a little bit manic.

_They're all lying to me._

He gripped the arm of a nearby chair to steady himself.

_Curse them. Curse them all._

He knew he couldn't stay there a second longer. This silly little game of pretend was just more than he could take. He had tried to put up with it for weeks. But he couldn't. As he cast his wide blue eyes around the room, he saw the stone walls around him and could only think of a prison.

_I have to go. Now._

There was a small black cloak hanging on a coatrack in front of the door. Swallowing heavily and taking a deep, shaky breath in an attempt to calm himself, he pulled the cloak off the hook and drew it around his shoulders, pulling up the hood to obscure his face in shadow. Then he slipped away unnoticed into the night.

Nobody really cared about him much anyway. After all, he was not the hero he had once been. If he never set foot near the castle again, then perhaps Zelda would forget him.

It was for the best.

* * *

**A/N: Guess who got carried away and wrote a stupid little thing that's way too dramatic and angsty?**

**Whoops.**


	36. Dreamer

:: | _Theme thirty-six,_  
:: | Dreamer

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

They always told him not to mess with fate. _"For, if you try," _they always said to him, _"you will only bring misfortune upon yourself."_

But he would prove them wrong. And so he thought about it, wondered about it, dreamed about it, planned it all out in his head. There was nothing more he wanted in life than to destroy his fate altogether and create it anew, turning it from coarse sands into green fields, and from bitter, hot winds into gentle, cool breezes.

Every day the young man would gaze out upon the vast, lifeless golden expanse that his people called home, devoid of green grasses, deep blue waters, and colorful flowers. And every day, he would dream of finding a better place for his people to live.

"She hasn't returned from her patrol yet," one of the women would say.

Another woman would chime in. "It's been a week."

Then another week would pass. And they all knew she wasn't returning.

This happened often. He and his people needed sustenance; water and food to keep them alive. They tried to stay away from the neighboring territory as much as they could, but when things got bad, they couldn't help resorting to thievery.

_I'll save them from this awful fate the Goddesses have cursed them with, _the young man told himself every day. And as time passed on and he grew stronger and was eventually crowned as king of his people, his desire to give them a better life only strengthened.

"We'll make a treaty with Hyrule," he told his council one day.

They all exchanged nervous glances and grimaced, but said nothing in response.

The next day he sent out a small group of emissaries to meet with the Hyrulians and ask them for a portion of their verdant, lush land.

They never returned.

Enraged, the king left his people to venture to Hyrule himself and discover what had happened. He found his emissaries rotting in a dungeon cell, treated with utmost contempt and neglect, ribs poking out from beneath skin and cheeks hollow. They hadn't even been given the chance to speak before being tossed behind bars.

But he would change that. He made grandiose promises of gold and jewels and untold wealth to the Hyrulian king in return for just a small patch of land that his people could use to grow their own food. But the Hyrulian king refused. He agreed not to attack any of the desert king's people as long as they kept to themselves, but that was that.

And that just wouldn't do.

Still his people perished almost daily, buried beneath the ever-shifting desert sands, never to be seen again. When death befell one of his people, it was rare that they had a body to bury. Instead they honored the person's memory and allowed the cruel sands to claim them for all eternity.

Eventually the man came to despise his own Goddess of the Sands; the deity who supposedly gave his people life and the strength to survive in the desert. But she didn't. She allowed her people to die on a regular basis. He imagined her reclining in a heavenly throne with cushions spun from gold, staring down upon the pathetic world below her with obvious boredom in her cruel yellow eyes.

And she allowed the sands to wipe away her people, one by one, slowly but surely, until their population became dangerously low.

_That's it. _The king paced his meager sandstone throne room, alone save for his own thoughts. _I've had enough. It's time to take action. To make my dreams a reality._

And so, under the guise of his treaty with Hyrule, he crept into the beautiful kingdom and bided his time.

He watched with cold golden eyes as the young princess of Hyrule and her pathetic excuse for a hero discovered his plan and set out to stop him from taking their kingdom. But the desert king did nothing. He only watched, knowing that there was nothing he needed to do. The foolish children would destroy themselves.

And so they did.

Unwittingly they opened the door for him to claim ultimate power, and with it, he drove the citizens of Hyrule to their knees and sat upon the throne of the beautiful green land.

He presented the kingdom to his people, and told them that he had saved them, had given them another chance at life. They could sow crops. They could swim in the blue lakes and draw water from deep wells. They could feel the plush grass beneath their bare feet and the cool breeze against their skin.

But they refused his gift, saying he had driven himself to madness, and they would not support him in it.

Crushed, the desert king collapsed into the throne of Hyrule, wishing he could take it all back and start over. _But it's too late now. I've already destroyed so many lives. I can't go back now._

And so he sat upon that throne for ages, withering away and watching, ever watching, as the clear, peaceful blue skies of Hyrule turned cold and gray, and then dark and horrible and red as the blood he had spilt. There was nothing he could do about the black clouds swirling permanently in the blood sky, and he had no idea why they were there. It seemed that his very presence summoned them; the awful power that he had stolen so very long ago when that foolish princess and her hero opened the doorway into his domination.

So when that same hero-boy one day returned as a man, the tyrant king was ready. He fought the hero, and the battle seemed to last for an eternity, all blood and hatred and confusion. _Why did I do this, why?_

_But it's too late to give up now._

And when the hero plunged his blade into the tyrant king's forehead, all he could think about through the pain and the blood and the screams was his dreams, and his fate, and how the both of them had been the worst of enemies. Yet he had still chosen to follow his dreams rather than trust in his fate.

They always told him not to mess with fate. _"For, if you try,"_ they always said to him, _"you will only bring misfortune upon yourself."_

* * *

**A/N: Just quick thank you to Guest for reading and reviewing, and for all the ideas c: I was actually planning on doing one of those somewhat soon, hehe.**


	37. Mist

:: | _Theme thirty-seven,_  
:: | Mist

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Among the vast fields of Hyrule, night enshrouding the land, a thick blanket of mist rolling and undulating like a living, breathing thing above the grasses. Eyes. Always watching.

Curled into a ball and sleeping beneath a tree, shivering miserably with his scant excuse for a blanket draped over his young body, a blue fairy's light the only comfort he is allowed in this far-too-vast world. Eyes. Always watching.

Crossing the endless fields, the rising sun doing almost nothing to diffuse the thick fog, shivering in his thin green tunic in the cold. Eyes. Always watching.

Accidentally plunging his booted foot into the freezing, turbulent water of the river due to the fact that he can barely see through the cold white mist, hissing aloud as he draws back. Eyes. Always watching.

As the days pass, mist shifting and changing but never seeming to leave him alone. Eyes. Always watching.

When he reaches his hand into the castle's moat, heart hammering and throat suddenly dry, curling cold fingers around a beautiful blue instrument and pulling it, dripping, from the water. Eyes. Always watching.

Stepping timidly through the darkened temple, light diffused, surroundings gray, still wrapping his arms around himself like he is wont to do, always cold. Eyes. Always watching.

Drawing his blade from its scabbard, cutting down foes that should have long been asleep, mist swirling beneath the earth and dancing, tauntingly, around his feet. Eyes. Always watching.

The blue fairy bobbing around his head, the only light in a world of darkness and death, guiding his way and calming his racing heart. Eyes. Always watching.

Once again, like so many years ago, curled into a ball and sleeping beneath a tree, shivering miserably with his scant excuse for a blanket draped over his body, his blue fairy's light the only comfort he is allowed in this desolate world. Eyes. Always watching.

Cruel beasts wandering the land, friends gone, foes abounding, the sky blood and the clouds ash, endless mist swirling around him, and that fairy's light is the only thing keeping his mind from plunging into madness. Eyes. Always watching.

Roaring, thrashing, bleeding, his foe's protests ringing through the air, but of no use; he has already been defeated. Eyes. Always watching.

The cruel task set to him finally ended, the blade returned to its rightful place and he to his rightful time, that consistent blue light that always hovered by his head no more, simply gone, plunging him into darkness and confusion. Eyes. Always watching.

A boy once again, seated on horseback, treading through silent, foreign woods as the mist taunts him, never leaving him, always dancing round him, and he has no fairy companion to guide him now. Eyes. Always watching.

Falling, falling through infinite darkness, never finding that fairy companion of his, form twisting, screaming, can't think, can't breathe, can't even exist... Eyes. Always watching.

Cogs turning, water rushing, clock ticking, darkness enveloping. Eyes. Always watching.

Red hair, large grin, pleasant features, rich robes, back burdened with a pack filled with wares; a man that looks friendly enough, but no. No, not to _him, _after all these years, after all this time, after all this darkness, this man's _eyes..._

_Always watching._

* * *

**A/N: You know how the Happy Mask Salesman tells you in Majora's Mask that he's been watching you? Yeah. He always freaked me out. So this is my attempt to write something eerie about him, I dunno. xP**

**Frequent updates because I've been feeling really motivated lately. Hopefully I didn't just jinx it ;~;**


	38. Burning

**A bit of a warning in advance -  
****This takes place after the events of theme 27, "Lost and Found".  
If you haven't read that one yet, this might be a little confusing at times.**

* * *

:: | _Theme thirty-eight,_  
:: | Burning

* * *

: Rated T :

* * *

At the edge of a dark forest, she stands gazing out upon the moonlit world, shrouded by night. Hyrule Castle Town rests at the crest of a hill, all wide cobblestone streets and tall, quaint wooden buildings painted white.

She draws the sword at her back, beautiful blade tinged blue, seeming to hum with life and energy of its own. She holds the sword in both hands - hands that should be porcelain and untainted, not calloused and bloodstained - and with blonde hair cascading over her shoulders and falling to curtain her face, she shuts her eyes and prays aloud.

"Farore, I beg for your guidance in this overwhelming task you have given me, for I cannot complete it alone."

For a moment all is silent. Not even insects dare to chirp nor the breeze to dance. Then she takes a deep breath, sheathes the sword at her back, ties her freshly-washed hair up with a plain gray ribbon, and sets off towards Castle Town.

* * *

The town is not as she remembers it, streets lively even in the dead of night and lights constantly burning inside the windows. Now it feels desolate, not a sound to be heard, and darkness reigns supreme.

But perhaps it all works to her advantage.

She sweeps through the streets, naught more than a phantom in the night, a passing dream soon forgotten upon waking to the sun's rays illuminating the world in golden light. She passes through the darkest of the shadows, her long, flowing black cloak seeming to dissolve her very being, turning her into nothing more than a part of the night itself.

Memories taunt her, swirl through her head, threatening to distract her from her goal.

_The man clasped a gloved hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming in fear, telling her they needed to flee, that something was very wrong..._

She stops for a moment, shaking her head, refusing to continue on until she is unburdened by her own thoughts. She cannot allow herself to be distracted.

_An arrow pierced his chest, and he fell to the ground with hardly a sound of protest. The only thing she could do - she, the pathetic, helpless, useless child - was run for her life. Abandon everything she knew and loved._

"No, stop," she hisses aloud, unaware that the words had even left her lips at all.

_Suddenly _he_ was there, standing over her, his smile as icy as his eyes, his laugh dark, his touch cruel -_

"No," she whispers desperately, blue eyes wide with fear. She grips her head with both hands, taking deep, ragged breaths. "No." His manic laugh echoes through her mind, and it's more than just a simple memory, she can _hear _him, see him standing in front of her with the Master Sword pierced through his body, blood trickling from his lips -

"No," she repeats again. And this time the memories leave her. She stands straight once more, not even realizing she had begun to slouch, and silently thanks Farore for her help. Once more she takes a deep, shuddering breath, then presses onward.

It's pathetic how easy it is to approach the castle walls, even though they are guarded. And it's even more pathetic how easy it is to slip inside the castle itself. Having lived there for the first ten years of her life, she remembers a secret passageway that leads all the way from the walls into the throne room of the castle.

Hidden by her dark cloak, she slips unnoticed to a tree somewhat nearby the castle walls, and she kneels down, brushing away leaves and dirt to reveal a small trapdoor partially obscured by a thick root. Casting a quick glance at her surroundings to make sure she is still unnoticed, she opens the trapdoor and slips inside, closing it behind her.

Darkness is all that greets her, but she needs no light to illuminate her path. Though it has been five years since last she's seen this place, she still remembers as if it were yesterday.

Her feet are nearly silent as she strides through the dark earthen hallway, droplets of water occasionally falling from the dirt ceiling only to seep into the hood of her cloak. Slowly her eyes begin to adjust to the blackness, until she can see the vague outline of a rickety wooden door standing before her, and she opens it.

There are four different passageways beyond the door. Three lead to dead ends, but she knows which one will guide her way into the castle. She chooses the passage on the far right and continues as it slopes upward, feet padding quietly against the packed dirt of the narrow hallway before her.

Soon she reaches another door, this one tiny and only large enough to crawl through. Heart hammering wildly against her ribcage, she pries open the tiny door, and squints against the thin sliver of light streaming in through the crack in the tile above her.

She carefully peeks through the small crack, scanning her surroundings as best as she can, and finds nothing waiting for her in the hallway beyond. Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she pushes the tile away and emerges from the floor into a long, regal hallway.

She is surprised to find that it has been surprisingly well-kept; the tapestries still hang on the wall, clean and colorful as always. The tile looks as if it has been recently polished, and the suits of armor lining the hall are all standing upright and in good repair.

_It's just as I remember it, _she thinks to herself with tears filling her eyes as she gently brushes her fingers across the surface of what once had been her favorite tapestry. It depicts a noble hero standing in a field of green, with the three Golden Goddesses granting him the Triforce of Courage.

But now it only brings back horrible memories. That noble figure in the tapestry is not the man she had once known. It is only a glorified depiction of what Hyrule's people wish him to be.

In reality, he had been cruel, perhaps even evil, and it had been his blood that the Master Sword had first tasted upon awakening from its pedestal.

Blue eyes darkening, she turns away from the colorful tapestry and strides across the tile floor, soft leather shoes preventing any sound save for the gentle swishing of her cloak.

_It is strange,_ she thinks as she stops before the great oak double-doors that lead into the throne room, _that nobody is here to guard it. Is he perhaps not here?_

_If he isn't, I'll tear this castle apart looking for him._

Throwing back the hood of her cloak to reveal her face and proudly raising her chin, she reaches forward and pushes open the doors.

The throne room is extravagant, rugs decorating the floor and countless tapestries covering the walls, and the beautiful wooden throne right in the center of it all. There, standing off to the side of the throne room, peering out a wide, floor-to-ceiling window, is a man. His fiery red hair and dark skin is familiar.

Upon hearing the doors groan and scrape against the polished marble floor, he turns. And for the first time in her life, she meets his burning golden eyes, and hatred flares within her like a fierce flame.

"Ah, there you are," he speaks in his deep voice, and once more she is reminded of a snarling wolf. Memories nearly overwhelm her; memories of this man in her parents' bedchambers, threatening to usurp the throne of Hyrule...

"Were you expecting me?" she asks, eyes cold and jaw set firm.

"In a way," the man replies, lacing his fingers behind his back. "But not so soon. I knew you were alive, and I knew you would return someday... but it's a surprise to see you here already."

"What are you doing here?" she demands.

"What am I doing in my own castle? Just enjoying the view of my kingdom before I head off to sleep. I sent the guards away because I wasn't expecting anyone. The wrong choice, I suppose." He scoffs.

Her eyes narrow, and her hands tremble with rage. She clenches them into fists and hides them under her cloak in an attempt to disguise the fact. "Your castle? _Your _castle? This castle which you have no right to stand in? This castle that belongs to me and my family?"

He sighs deeply. "I understand your anger." When she curls her lip in contempt, he only frowns. "I really do. My people suffered death and heartache in their desert home for hundreds upon hundreds of years, and I only meant to change that."

"By taking what was not yours and destroying the lives of many for your own selfish ends?"

"It was necessary."

Her eyes widen in rage. "Where are my parents?"

The man averts his golden eyes, once more staring out the window. "They would not cooperate. I did what had to be done."

At his words her heart stops, and she stares at him in disbelief. A part of her had always known. She had expected this for years. But another part of her - the foolish, irrational part - hoped for the better.

Now that hope is destroyed.

"You killed them?"

He does not respond.

The flame within her bursts into a wildfire, spreading far and wide, consuming all in its path, and she cannot control it. Baring her teeth in rage, she throws aside her dark cloak, and it flutters slowly to the ground, revealing her thin but wiry form, toned by the years she spent with that _monster -_ and now here she is facing yet another one.

_The world is cruel, _she thinks. And maybe - just maybe - that awful man with the icy smile was right about everything.

The man before her turns his eyes to her once again, and for a moment he pauses, can only stare in shock as he studies her. "It cannot be."

She realizes why he is taken aback. _The Master Sword._

"Only the hero is allowed to wield that blade..." Realization dawns on his face, and he grins. "I see. What an interesting turn of events! I could not have expected something like this... Do you perhaps know what happened to the hero?"

"He was found unworthy, and the very blade he was meant to wield is what stole his life," she explains simply, and draws the sword with jaw clenched.

"Hmm, that's too bad," he replies, lightly shaking his head. "I had intended to keep you alive, perhaps as something of a pet, a reminder of what once was. But it seems I'll have to kill you." He draws a long, broad sword that hangs at his hip, and meets her eyes.

For a moment her confidence wavers. Her skill with the bow had been somewhat lacking, but her skill with the sword even more so. And she does not know if she can fight him.

But there's no time to think, hardly even time to breathe, he's rushing at her -

Swords clash, the sound of steel against steel ringing through the throne room. She isn't even aware of her movements, can't even predict them as blades flash in the light of the torches lining the walls.

He thrusts; she deflects. She slices down towards his head; he parries. A diagonal cut forces her to dance backward, and he advances on her, sword held to defend his chest. She cuts at his legs, but he easily blocks the blow, and their swords crash together with a slither of steel. For a moment their blades are locked together, and it's a battle of pure strength. He's tall, muscular, intimidating, golden eyes glinting with delight at the thought of piercing his sword through her heart. She's short, thin, not nearly as strong as him, and she can feel herself slipping, sweat rolling down her face, gritting her teeth -

And then he shoves her backward, and she stumbles, tripping over her own two feet and giving a shout of fear as he advances on her. She can't even regain her balance, and she knows the battle is lost when she tips backward and her feet are suddenly in the air. She lands ungracefully on her back with a cry. And then suddenly he's holding the hilt of his sword in both hands, and the blade is plunging toward her chest.

She frantically rolls out of the way, and his sword barely misses her, crashing against the marble floor with a resounding clang. Panting, chest heaving with panic, she stumbles to her feet again, ignoring her racing heart as she wipes sweat from her brow.

_I cannot win, _she thinks to herself when his enraged golden eyes meet her frantic blue ones, and he bares his teeth. He hasn't even broken a sweat.

He takes a step toward her, and she turns and runs to the other side of the room, panting. She draws a torch from its place on the wall and holds it out to him, and he hesitates when he sees it. "What are you planning?"

"What did you do to my people?" she demands. "My parents are gone, my kingdom ruled by a tyrant... what about my people? Did you destroy them as well?"

He watches her with narrowed eyes. "They were uncooperative, just like your parents. And I needed a place for my people to stay, so I -"

Eyes wide with rage, she mindlessly swings the sword and torch at him. "How dare you!" she snarls, tears welling up in her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. She will not give him that satisfaction. "I'll kill you!" And she can almost feel her heart turning to ice; nothing matters anymore. Everything she had once known and loved is gone, and there is no reason to live any longer. And she hates everything, especially him, because he's the demon that did this to her.

He cocks a brow, and his expression is so confident and arrogant that her hatred overwhelms her, consuming her, body and mind, and in that moment the only thing that matters to her is avenging her parents and her people. "Just _try," _he says with a grin, holding up his sword once more in a defensive position.

She stares at him, heart hammering wildly, chest heaving with frantic breaths. Her eyes are wide and perhaps a little manic. And with only a moment of hesitation, she tosses the torch onto the floor.

It rolls over and comes to a stop atop one of the thick rugs adorning the floor, and immediately it catches fire.

He looks over to the fresh flame with horrified eyes, and his jaw drops. "What -" But he can't say anything else. Instead he rushes over to the torch and attempts to stomp out the flames. But his attempts are in vain, and when he isn't looking, she grasps the next torch hanging on the wall and uses it to catch the nearest tapestry on fire.

"Fool, what are you doing?" he yells at her, whirling to face her with teeth gritted. He looks as if he is about to say something else, but decides against it, instead opting to rush for the doors that lead away from the throne room.

But she sprints toward him and skids to a stop in front of him, lashing out with her blade almost before he can react. He only barely manages to parry her blow, stumbling slightly backward in the wake of her fierce attack. And before he can recover, she kicks his legs out from underneath him, and he falls to the floor with a cry of protest.

The hungry fire has already spread, having devoured the rug in its path. It licks hungrily at the air, searching for food, and it finds it in the form of his clothes.

Immediately he catches fire, and the flames spread across his body. He screams in panic, and rolls, flailing, across the floor, trying desperately to quench the hungry flames. But he only rolls right into the fire itself, and it surrounds him, cackling at him, devouring him as he wails in agony.

She only watches him, blue eyes cold and unforgiving, until his cries silence and he is naught more than an indistinct black shape within the flames.

Sweat rolls down her face, drenches her hair, wets her hands and makes the blade of the Master Sword slick. Heart still hammering against her ribcage, she drops the sacred blade, and it falls to the marble floor with a clatter.

Silent as a phantom she strides to the center of the throne room, heedless of the heat, of the fire that is now a blazing inferno, roaring like an angry demon.

_"One day you'll sit on this throne," her mother said, "and you will rule as a just queen."_

The wooden throne has already caught fire, but she doesn't care. She sits upon it, leans back, places her arms on the armrests and only stares out at the hungry flames. She can feel them licking at her, feel the consuming heat, but she allows it to envelop her. Her cold eyes are a stark contrast to the orange of the fire, and she doesn't even realize how similar she is to _him..._

She releases an exhausted sigh, and thinks of how ironic it is, that the hero had despised the Goddesses and she had hated him for it, when all along he was _right, _the Goddesses are cruel beasts and care nothing for their people - and how she's finally sitting upon the very seat that her mother had said she would, but only when her people are destroyed and her castle is in _flames -_

And she almost laughs. _Almost. _The only thing she does is smile, smile for the first time in so many years.

Princess Zelda sits upon the throne of Hyrule, eyes as icy as her heart watching the flames destroy everything she had ever once loved. And she leans back, heaving a sigh of exhaustion, and closes her eyes, allowing the fire to consume her too.

* * *

**A/N: I don't think Lost and Found _really _needed a sequel, but I recently got to thinking about how messed up Zelda would be after everything she's been through, and especially after hanging out with Link for so long. And I just could not resist writing this.**

**I'm sorry that the majority of these themes are angst xD I'll try to write something ****lighthearted soon, I promise.**


	39. Out of Time

:: | _Theme thirty-nine,_  
:: | Out of Time

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

I really hate these stupid freaking Silent Realms.

Apparently the Goddesses thought it'd be a good idea to create them as some sort of trial for me to go through - as a way for me to prove my heroism and get stronger.

But I think that's a load of crap.

The sole purpose of the Silent Realms is to give me as many heart attacks as possible, and the Goddesses turn it into some sort of drinking game - _Take a shot every time Link nearly wets his pants!_

I bet they're laughing right now, because I'm currently cowering in a corner, shaking as one of those accursed hooded ghosts floats by me, its lantern jingling and setting my nerves on edge. It doesn't see me - it can't, unless I step into the light of its lantern - but even though I'm fine in my little corner, I can't help being terrified anyway.

As soon as the ghost passes by, I know I'm free to go, but I still hesitate for a bit, because one of those Goddess-forsaken guardians is standing right in my way. And it's one of those flying ones too. Those are the worst. Sure, the ones that can't fly are kinda scary too, but not much. They just sort of run at you with this giant, clumsy weapon, and it's easy to outrun them. But these flying ones? For the love of Nayru, they can just casually pass through walls as if there's nothing there, and the way they rub their two giant scimitars against each other to create this awful grating noise is just horrifying.

Yeah, of course I know the dang thing's asleep, but I can't help being scared of it anyway. And yet I know I won't get anywhere if I don't finish this one last stupid Silent Realm. So, with gritted teeth, I sneak out from my hiding place in the corner and carefully tiptoe around the sleeping guardian, trying not to even breathe as I do.

I wish this awful place didn't exist. I've already completed three other Silent Realms, and I thought that was the end of them. But _no,_ the Goddesses love playing pranks on me, and they sprang a fourth Silent Realm on me without any prior warning.

With how cruel the Goddesses can be sometimes, I think I'm less of their chosen hero and more of a divine clown that they enjoy laughing at all the time. What a bunch of jerks.

I never thought my own home could be so scary. Skyloft is always such a peaceful place, especially after this whole crazy adventure to save Zelda - and the rest of the world - began. It's a place of refuge, of peace, of bliss, of sleeping in random people's beds without asking and they can't complain because I have a freaking sword on my back for Din's sake... But now it's just a place of nightmares, made even worse by the fact that it doesn't have bathrooms. I could really use one right now.

Wait, is the sky slowly turning red?

Oh _Din,_ it is, it is! I'm so screwed. I'm running out of time, I have to find a tear, _and quick, hurry -_ But I can't, and I'm looking everywhere, and I've found all the tears except for just one, and I don't know where it is, and the sky is getting redder _sweet Golden Goddesses help me -_

And then I hear a terrible noise coming from behind me. Something like two giant scimitars scraping together.

I bet the Goddesses are taking another shot right about now.

I'm not even going to turn around. I'm just going to run. So I do. I'm running for my life, my lungs are burning, the sky is fiery red, and I can still hear that accursed noise behind me, growing louder and louder each passing second. I know I'm running into a dead end, because I know Skyloft like the back of my hand. But there really isn't anywhere else to turn... So I guess I'm just doomed.

I skid to a stop at the very edge of Skyloft and whirl around to face my foe. Sure enough, it's that same awful flying guardian I just passed, scimitars scraping together and echoing through the Silent Realm.

Maybe I can just run past it. I just have to be fast enough -

Oh. Too late.

Its blades are coming right toward my chest, and I can't do anything about it. Did I forget to mention I'm weaponless in these stupid Silent Realms? Yeah. The Goddesses don't even allow me a chance to defend myself against these horrifying floating monsters with scimitars. Do you need any more proof that they're a bunch of jerks who get far too much enjoyment out of my misery?

Then suddenly there's a flash of pain as the guardian's blades slice through my chest, and I might be screaming, but I can't tell, because everything's blurry and confusing and I feel like I'm falling -

Oh. And here I am, back in normal, everyday Skyloft - thank Hylia for that - with Fi standing over me. And I don't thank Hylia for _that._

Sacred Realm above, I can't believe I failed. For the fourth time. And I only had one Goddess-forsaken tear left to find... Why is my life so unfair?

Fi interrupts my moping. "Master, it appears you have failed the trial again -"

_"Shut up, Fi."_

I swear to Farore she's smiling.

* * *

**A/N: A lighthearted thing as promised. x3**

**And no, I don't know why I always turn to Skyward Sword for my attempts at humor.**


	40. Knowing How

:: | _Theme forty,_  
:: | Knowing How

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

He wakes to a blade embedded in his stomach, and realizes he's made a terrible mistake.

_"I just need to rest," _he remembers whispering to himself, stumbling exhaustedly away from the corpses of his enemies. The battle was harsh and had left him covered in wounds - and he couldn't resist the urge to collapse under a tree and rest.

But now he regrets that decision more than anything, because there's a stupid little beast standing over him, one he could have killed in his sleep if he wanted to. But he'd let his guard down, and now his vision is going black.

_I can't die like this... Hyrule still needs me. Zelda still needs me._

He had only met her thrice, but those simple meetings had been enjoyable, despite the circumstances. She was fun to talk to, easy to get along with despite her royal title, and he felt he could tell her anything. And now look at him, he's slipping away, and even though he wants to talk to her again he can't.

Even with vision swimming in darkness, he tries to stand, and fails miserably. The beast is still there, garbling its nonsense language, crying out in victory. All he needs to do is cut it down, reach into his satchel, spread some salve over his wounds and bandage himself up. It's that simple.

So he tells his hand to curl around the hilt of his sword, but all it does it twitch, and other than that it doesn't budge at all. His vision is so dark and blurry he can't even see his foe anymore, and the only reason he knows it's still there is because it hasn't stopped its victory cries.

_"I know you can do it, Link," _he remembers the princess saying with a grin on her face. _"We both have roles to play in this. You play yours and I'll play mine."_

And he had grinned in response. _"You can count on me, princess."_

_"But whatever you do... keep yourself safe."_

_"I will, I promise. And you too, all right?"_

What a lie that had been. The pain in his stomach dulls to the point where he can't feel anything, and he doesn't even know if the sword is still buried in his flesh or not. And as he slips away, he thinks about what a pathetic hero he is, dying like this, unable to save his land, his people, his princess.

_I can't be a hero. Why was I chosen for this? I don't know what I'm doing..._

And he can't stop it. Can't stop the life slipping away from him like sand between his fingers.

Then suddenly there's a warm, gentle breeze dancing around him, tousling his hair and his clothes. He furrows his brow in confusion and looks around him, wondering where he is, and how he got here, and how he's able to stand up, and where his enemies are, and where his wounds are. Not that he's complaining - he feels wonderful; free.

But he still can't help wondering how in the world he came to stand in this vast, endless field, uninterrupted by anything, verdant green grasses and tall, colorful wildflowers swaying in the breeze. And he knows it looks awfully familiar - almost like the field in which he had met with the princess for the third time. When he had promised her to be a hero, to succeed...

_I'm really good at breaking promises, I guess, _he thinks to himself with a huff.

But this field isn't quite the same. It's greener, brighter, sweeter. There's something peaceful about it that can't be put into words. And again he wonders how he got here and where "here" is. Everything is so wrong and yet feels so right all at the same time.

"Link."

A kind voice. Gentle, sweet, loud and yet quiet all at the same time, echoing like a beautiful song through his ears. Slowly he turns around, only to see a tall woman standing before him.

She is more beautiful than anything he has ever seen before. Regal, back straight and chin level, a sweet smile on her pink lips. Dark lashes framing eyes greener than anything with hair to match, simple white dress flowing around her like a waterfall. And her entire being seems to shine with an ethereal golden light that envelops him in warmth and comfort, and he can't help feeling completely at ease.

And he also can't help thinking that he's met her before. She's so familiar, and he feels like he's been here in this field before, many times. Perhaps in a dream, or in another life... He isn't quite sure.

She had spoken his name, so he figures he should respond in some way - but he can't possibly think of anything to say to her. So he stands there dumbly, awkwardly shifting his weight, wondering what in the world is going on. And finally he finds the words.

"So, uh, to say I'm a little confused is a huge understatement. Mind telling me what's going on here?"

...No matter how stupid those words may be.

But she only smiles patiently at him, and takes a step forward. He's almost tempted to take a step toward her in return, but feels that'd be awkward - so he only stands there, raising a brow at her as she approaches.

Then she takes his hand into both of hers, his left hand, the one with that accursed golden mark on the back of it, the mark that means he's supposed to be a hero - even if he isn't cut out for it and has no idea what he's doing.

He blinks up at her in confusion, and she meets his eyes, searching them. Her gaze is so intense that he wants to shrink back. But he doesn't. Instead he stands his ground, staring into those deep green eyes with confusion, still trying to remember where he's seen her before. He feels like he knows her so well, and yet not at all.

"Please remember, Link," she says, her voice soft, a soothing melody.

And suddenly, without any warning at all, memories are flashing through his mind, flowing through his entire being, _becoming _him.

A Goddess, standing upon the earth, her smile rivaling the sunshine. A girl above the clouds, beautiful golden hair, sweet laughter like a river's flow. A princess, tall and regal, face somber but kind. A woman with soft brown hair, enveloped in shadows, but when she offered a rare smile, it was beautiful.

But there wasn't only light and joy. There was darkness. Too much of it.

Demons flooding the earth. A horrid beast stealing away the very soul of his beloved. Skies red as blood, a once lively place turned dark and soulless. People, eyes dull, walking aimlessly through a land tormented by inevitable apocalypse. Two worlds suffering, helpless people transformed to wicked beasts against their will, cold twilight enveloping everything.

And always - always - the pain of loss. The loss of himself, passing into the other world before having a chance to say farewell to his Goddess. The spirit of the blade crafted by the Goddess herself, companion to him through everything, drifting into eternal slumber, never to be seen again. A fairy, soft blue light his only guidance, the only thing keeping him from going mad, leaving without a word, and him, searching, unable to find. The loss of so much life, all because he couldn't stop the apocalypse in time, reliving the same three days over and over again until he swore he'd _snap - - _A once terrible little imp, softer, kinder, princess of that other world, of course she couldn't stay, so she left him wandering, lost, without purpose or hope...

And of course, a world overrun with terrible beasts, destroying everything in their path. He had been chosen to stop them, but he couldn't do it alone.

_"These two temples are the most important in the world, Link," _the princess had told him, pointing to two little dots on her map. _"And these monsters have overtaken them. If we don't stop them, immediately, Hyrule will be lost. You'll go to this one - I'll go to the other."_

_"What? No, I'll go to both of them. I'm the hero, not you. Are you trying to steal my job?"_ He remembers his teasing tone, the light smile on his lips.

And he remembers her laughing, that sweet laugh of hers. _"Don't get cocky, Link. I'd love to laze around here in the castle and let you do this on your own -"_ Her tone had also been teasing there, he remembers - _"but we need to hurry. We don't have much time. I need to help."_

All these memories are his now. All these memories of being chosen to save the land, of being born into the world and growing up, forgetting it all and starting over again each time.

But this is the first time he's actually _failed._

Through all this time, all these thousands of years, all these lives... this is the first time he hasn't even come close to completing his journey.

He knows he died in vain. He won't be remembered as a hero. He probably won't even be remembered at all.

And then his sight returns to him, and he's looking into the green eyes of that woman again - and now he knows her, _Farore, _his Goddess. He knows all about her, how he's known her for thousands of years and how he returns to her at the end of each journey, and she lets him rest from his exhausting mission before he starts another one. And he knows she doesn't like him to bow, but he does it anyway, falls to one knee and places a hand over his heart as he dips his head. "Your Grace."

He hears her laugh. A simple, quiet laugh that only lasts for a second, but it's the most beautiful laugh he's heard. Now, it's also familiar. And he can't help feeling like a completely different person. "Rise, Link."

He obeys, rising to face her once more, lips pressed into a thin line. He can't meet her gaze, so he averts his eyes.

"What troubles you?" she asks.

"I have failed you," is his simple response, voice quiet.

"You have not failed me," she replies gently, still holding onto his hand, and he sees her smile out of the corner of his eye.

"Never before have I fallen, Your Grace, you know this. You have given this task to me, appointed me to be the guardian of your world. And I have succeeded, in all except _this _\- this one simple task..." He clenches his jaw, stares at the swaying grass around him, and feels like an utter fool. He's been doing this for thousands of years, and shouldn't that give him some experience in the matter? Shouldn't he be good at this by now?

_Why have I succeeded in trials far more difficult than this one? And yet now, of all times, I fall to such a petty thing?_

Farore knows his thoughts and she peers into his eyes with a deep sigh. "Link," she says sweetly, patiently, never upset at him, and he wonders how she can manage to put up with this century after century. How _he _can put up with this century after century... "You made a simple mistake. You need not feel this way. Mistakes can be fixed."

"But the world will fall, Your Grace, all due to my incompetence." He looks up at her with narrowed eyes, teeth gritted. "You know how many lifetimes I have lived... And I know that this 'simple mistake', as you deem it, will mean the utter destruction of Hyrule and her people. Yet even through all this, you say it can be fixed? _How?"_ His voice is demanding, and he doesn't mean it to be, but he is frustrated, and hadn't even realized until now that his hands are trembling ever so slightly. Again he averts his eyes and takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. "I apologize."

And, as always, she only smiles. "You are correct. Hyrule will fall. But there is nothing we can do to stop that. Yes, you have made a mistake. But it can be fixed, I promise you. All you need to do is return to the world once more."

_Return to the world once more. _He knows what that means. Forget his thousands of years of life, forget his divine destiny again, forget all those lifetimes, and return to the body of a helpless babe. Grow up again an innocent child, unprepared to take on the mantle of hero.

And all he can think is that this cycle is so tiring. It began once, long ago, but he doubts it will ever end.

Yet, even though he sighs in exhaustion, and his shoulders slump, and his legs are weak beneath him, he agrees. "Anything my Goddess wishes of me shall be done." Again he places a hand over his heart and bows his head to her.

"But for now," she says, and her voice is as soothing as the breeze, "rest. If you were to return to the world now, you would not be able to accomplish anything. You would need to grow, to mature... and in a dire time like this, with beasts driving the people away from their homes, there would be no safety for a newborn babe. Wait, and return when the time is right."

And at the thought of resting from his labors, he can only smile. A small smile that vanishes almost as soon as it appears, but a smile nonetheless.

"Thank you, Your Grace."

She gives a simple nod, and still holding his hand in her own, gently leads him away through the vast fields.

And he thinks about Zelda, about how she is suffering through this long, exhausting cycle just as he is. About how he needs her, and she needs him... and he hopes she can wait until he returns.

_I will return to you, Zelda, _he thinks. _And I will be the hero you hoped I was. Because now, I know how to be that hero._


	41. Fork in the Road

:: | _Theme forty-one,_  
:: | Fork in the Road

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Her name is Midna, and she's beautiful, with pale skin and long hair redder than the sunset cascading over her shoulders. Crimson eyes are framed by dark lashes, and full lilac lips complement her narrow face, giving her a regal look unmatched by any other.

His name is Link, and he's quite handsome, with tan skin and dark golden hair framing his defined facial features. Little blue earrings hang from his long, pointed ears, perfectly complementing his shining blue eyes. There's always a smile on his lips.

It's a busy week, when people from all over Hyrule and its neighboring kingdoms come to set up shop in the town square. The wide cobblestone streets of Castle Town are filled to the brim with people, each pushing past the others with impatience and urgency, desperate to reach their desired vendor and purchase wares before they're all sold out.

Link holds two baskets full of vegetables and fruits of the highest quality. He's a simple farm-boy, but one of the wealthiest ones out there, because he and his family grow the best produce around and they make plenty of money for it. He's here to deliver the baskets of produce to his family's stall, because they've already run out of food and are in dire need of more.

Midna carries a bag packed near to bursting with her clothes and money and other personal possessions. She's a Twili from the neighboring kingdom, and she won't be returning home anytime soon. She's here to marry Princess Zelda's brother - she can't even remember his name, and dreads the thought of spending the rest of her life with a man she doesn't know. But she understands that this is for the best; it's already been fifty years since the denizens of the Twilight Realm came to dwell in Hyrule, and yet still the Hylians don't trust the Twili. And she, being princess of her people, knows that her marriage with the prince of Hyrule is for the best.

Link came here with some of his friends and siblings, who are also carrying baskets of produce to deliver. But when he turns around to look for them, he realizes they're gone, lost in the crowd, and he sighs as he cranes his neck to look for them but can't find them anywhere.

Midna came here with a few bodyguards - not too many, she doesn't want the Hylians to feel threatened - but when she glances over her shoulder, she realizes they aren't there. They've simply vanished into the seething mass of people. She doesn't even try to look for them; she's sick of them anyway, and their silent, uncaring presence, and the way they stand there like stone and don't respond to almost anything she says. She knows she can take care of herself, who cares about the stupid bodyguards?

Link gives up on looking for his comrades, and decides to meet them at the stall.

So he turns, and Midna turns - right at the moment that they crash into one another.

Link stumbles back a few steps, and so does she. He drops one of his baskets, vegetables spilling across the cobblestone streets, and he quickly bends to pick them up, panicking as the crowds nearly trample his produce. She almost drops her bag, and as it slips out of her hands she desperately claws at it until she eventually, clumsily, regains her hold on it and huffs in irritation. "Can't you watch where you're going?" she snaps, glaring down at the young man kneeling before her, frantically picking up the produce and placing it back in its basket.

"S-sorry," he mumbles, not looking up to meet her eyes.

She frowns, watches as he reaches for a head of lettuce, and she sighs heavily. Shaking her head, she kneels in front of him and grabs the lettuce before he does, then shoves it back in his basket, reluctantly murmuring, "I guess it was kind of my fault too. So, sorry."

He only smiles in response, picks up another head of lettuce and lifts his eyes, intending to thank her - but stops short when their gazes meet.

_The mirror is shattered, just like his heart._

Her eyes are striking red, and orange, and yellow, like an elegant sunset. His eyes are bright, shining blue, beautiful like the deep morning sky.

_He knows it sounds pathetic, like one of Ilia's sappy poems that she used to love to read to him, even though he hated them._

Somehow, he thinks, and she thinks, those eyes are very familiar.

_But he doesn't care, because the mirror is a perfect reflection of his broken heart, his broken being, and he finally realizes just how much those stupid, sappy poems actually make sense now._

"I'm sorry," he says again, though he isn't quite sure why, and he can't take his eyes from hers, and neither can she. The rest of the fallen produce lies forgotten on the cobblestone street, trampled beneath the feet of a dozen frantic people, and he doesn't even know it's there.

_And he thinks maybe, just maybe if he can fix that mirror, then he can fix himself - so he kneels, hands scrabbling, throat dry, and doesn't even notice how he's shaking as his fingers grasp at the impossibly tiny shards._

For a moment they only stare at each other, lost in memories that they can't even comprehend, and that flit past them so quickly that they can't quite register what they're remembering in the first place.

_He doesn't even notice that the little shards are slicing through his fingerless gloves and his skin, and blood is dripping down his palms; but he keeps going even though he knows it's useless, because most of the mirror is just dust, and it blows away in the wind, far from his reach, and his heart goes with it._

She's amazed that he doesn't seem afraid of her; her bright red eyes and abnormally pale skin that clearly mark her as Twili. And all he can think is that she's so beautiful, but also so familiar, and even though he's heard of Twili before he's never met one - so how could she, of all people, be familiar?

_Eventually he stops, realizing how fruitless his task is, and can only stare at his bloodied hands with lips pressed into a thin line; tears are pooling in his eyes but he refuses to let them fall, because he's in the presence of Princess Zelda, and he's already acted like such a disgrace and he can't let himself slip any further._

_Princess Zelda places a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, and says nothing, only acknowledges how broken he is._

The two seem to realize that they're kneeling down in the middle of a very busy street, awkwardly staring at each other even though they're complete strangers. So they exchange embarrassed smiles and stand up - he takes note of how tall she is, at least a head taller than him - and even now they leave the rest of the produce lying in the street.

"Sorry about that," Link says for a third time.

"Stop apologizing," Midna replies with a huff. "It was my fault. Both of ours, I suppose."

He only grins, and reaches into the basket hanging from the fingers of his left hand. He takes a few strawberries and hands them to her, mentally screaming at himself because he's not supposed to give away his wares for free. But he ignores the little voice in his head and says, "Here, to make up for it."

"Well, if you're giving them away, I'm not going to protest," she responds with a smile, accepting the strawberries and biting into one right then and there. Her eyes widen a little with surprise, and she takes another bite, speaking around a mouthful of it in a manner very opposite to that of a princess, "It's delicious! Best strawberry I've ever had."

"If you'd like more, you can stop by our stall." He motions vaguely into the direction he'd been walking before he had bumped into her. "I'd - er, we'd love to see you there."

"As much as I'd love to, I have places to be. I'm afraid I'm already late - no thanks to you." She cocks a brow, and he recognizes her words as teasing, so he only grins. "I wish I had something to give you in return - oh. Ten rupees for your trouble?" She begins opening her bag, but Link shakes his head.

"No, think of the strawberries as a gift. I have to be going anyway. See you later?"

Midna, in spite of herself, finds that she just can't wipe the smile from her face, even though she's been trying to this whole time. She gives him a single nod. "See you later."

Then they part, heading in completely separate directions, and for completely different futures, and they'll probably never see one another ever again. And despite the fact that they don't know each other at all - don't even know the other's name - the both of them still can't help feeling just a little disappointed over the fact.

As Link stops beside his stall, and notices that his friends and siblings are already there, he apologizes profusely for being late as he begins setting up the produce to display to the customers. He can't help thinking about the young woman that seemed so strangely familiar. Usually he wants people to pay for his wares. Giving her those strawberries for free had been quite strange of him, he thinks.

As Midna strides through the busy streets and eventually finds her bodyguards again, she ignores their chiding words, telling her not to run off because it's dangerous - or something like that, she isn't really listening. She can't help thinking about the young man that seemed so strangely familiar. Usually she remains stubbornly silent and likes to completely ignore people she doesn't feel comfortable around. Teasing him as if she'd known him for a long time had been quite strange of her, she thinks.

And the both of them can't help feeling that their parting words - _see you later _\- held a deep sadness to them, though they won't ever be able to understand why.

* * *

**A/N: Present tense again, oops.**

**Also, godtierGrammarian, if you ever read this, I blame you for this. Sure, you didn't exactly have a hand in this, but all your Link and Midna AUs just _reaaaaallyyyy_ made me want to write one too...**

**Anyway, kind of in a LinkxMidna mood lately but I'm terrible at writing actual romance, so I kind of just settled for this. The thought of the Twili eventually being allowed to return to Hyrule is one that's been swirling around in my head for quite some time, and it's a shame I had to express that thought via this silly little oneshot instead of a full-blown story. I might just actually make a full-blown story out of this someday, but I make no promises, because I'm already working on two big stories at the moment and that's enough for me.**

**Whoops, ramble! Well, anyway, thanks so much for reading!**


	42. Start

:: | _Theme forty-two,_  
:: | Start

* * *

: Rated K+ :

* * *

She knew his soul was slipping away, and she couldn't bear the thought of it.

Hylia bowed her head, hair falling in waves, shimmering like spun gold even amidst the filthy aftermath of battle. Corpses laid strewn about her, both of men and of demons, and a foul odor pervaded the air, impossible to ignore.

There was not a single living thing surrounding the Goddess. She was the only breath of life in this world of ashes, the pure white of her dress a sharp contrast to the blood sky above her. A beautiful shining diamond amongst blackness and death.

Once, the man in her arms had been alive. But no longer. He had left her all alone in this cruel world.

She was a Goddess. A powerful being, a glorious being, a being of love and purity and kindness, a wonderful smile always gracing her sweet lips.

But now her lips were parted to reveal clenched teeth. Her perfect porcelain skin was blotchy and red, and flawless crystal eyes now pooled with tears. A single droplet fell from the tip of her lashes and dropped, onto the cheek of the fallen hero.

She could not let herself shed any more tears. It wasn't right for a Goddess. But how could she resist? These had been her people, and this hero her chosen one, and perhaps she had even loved him. And she thought of the irony, the irony of a Goddess loving a mortal.

Hylia squeezed her eyes shut, gritted her teeth, and resisted the urge to let herself go - to let the sobs shake her shoulders and the wails that she was trying so desperately to hold back rip from her throat.

And no matter how much she didn't want to, she had to speak. She knew the future of this land - that the paradise she had created above the clouds would not last. Her people would eventually return to a wild, forgotten land, one they knew not how to tame. And evil would always be reborn, always to destroy her precious people she had worked so hard to protect.

The choice was a difficult one. But she made it anyway.

"Farore," she whispered, her voice trembling, very uncharacteristic of a supposedly-glorious Goddess, "please."

She knew Farore heard her. She was one of them, a Goddess, just like Hylia. And Hylia had not lost her divinity when she had descended to the earth to aid her people. So she simply waited, waited for a reply that felt like it took eons to arrive.

_Hylia..._

The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once, resonating through her mind, her consciousness, her very soul, even though there was no body before her that the voice could possibly be coming from. "Please, Farore," Hylia begged. "This land needs him. The people will not survive without him. Whenever the world needs him, please, bring back his soul."

Hylia had made her choice already, and did not question it, even though she felt selfish for it. After all, if she simply allowed his soul to rest in peace, he would never be summoned to return to the land and fight for its people. For the rest of eternity he could simply live in utter tranquility. Who was she to interrupt it?

And yet, without him...

"This land needs him," she repeated desperately, voice cracking, the cruel breeze tousling her hair and bringing her the scent of death and ashes. "He has proven himself far more worthy than any other mortal, and without him, all will perish. There will be no hope. Please -"

_Hylia, _Farore interrupted, her voice only kindness and understanding. _I will return his soul to the earth whenever it is in need of him. Do not worry._

Hylia breathed a shuddering sigh of relief, and bowed her head lower, her nose nearly touching the hero's. Still she held him, even though his unnatural stillness made her want to do anything but. "And please," she whispered, "grant him the gift of courage."

_Courage? _Farore paused for a moment. _Would you not ask for Din's power? Her gift would grant him anything he so desired, the strength to destroy nations if he so pleased - but with his noble soul, he would only use it for good._

"I know." Hylia did not speak for a while, only stared at the hero's closed lids, and gently brushed a shuddering hand against his cheek. His skin was already cold, and the awful feel of it made her quickly withdraw her hand once more. With a grimace on her lips, she said, "But I want him to have courage. He already possesses all three virtues - power, wisdom, courage - but his courage is the strongest of them all. And it is a wonderful courage, pure and beautiful, and the gift..." For a moment she paused. "It... it suits him."

Strange for a Goddess to stumble over her words. Never before had she done something so strange. Something was wrong with her, she knew, but could not pinpoint it - and that, in and of itself, was strange too. Usually Goddesses were supposed to be omniscient. And she was acting anything but.

"You are not surprised by this request, Farore," Hylia spoke, lifting her eyes to the heavens, her heart clenching at the sight of the red sky and dark clouds swirling above. "You expected me to ask this."

_Yes, I did, _Farore admitted, and though Hylia could not see her fellow Goddess, she knew she was smiling.

"Then you must also know my next request. And you will not be surprised by that one, either."

_I will not, _Farore agreed, _but I would hear it from your lips nonetheless._

Hylia took a deep breath in preparation for what she was about to say, and lowered her gaze once more, staring at the filthy, bloodstained face of her hero. And once again tears threatened to spill, but she fought them.

"Whenever his soul is returned to the world... I wish to be returned with him." A pause, in which her arms shook, and she nearly dropped his limp body. "As a mortal."

Even though Farore had indeed expected the request, she still did not respond for a long while, as if pondering what to say. _You have fallen for him._

"...Yes," she admitted, no matter how strange it sounded to agree with Farore's statement.

Yes, Hylia had fallen for him. How pathetically mortal of her. But she didn't care. Farore understood. And perhaps, Hylia thought, she was never meant to be divine in the first place.

_I will grant all three requests, _Farore replied, voice somber and yet not unkind. There was always a certain gentleness to the other Goddess's voice. _But know this - mortals die. Their bodies decay. Their souls separate from their flesh. And so it must be for you._

Hylia squeezed her eyes shut. How would it feel to drift away from her body, to lose anything and everything physical... to _die? _Would it be painful? Peaceful?

And she was almost afraid. But nonetheless - "I know."

A long silence followed, and Hylia knew the other Goddess was pondering their conversation. And then, finally, she spoke.

_Farewell, Hylia._

And the Goddess that glowed like the sun fell, fell to the ground amidst a sea of corpses, and the last ember of life in the world flickered and died.

* * *

The young boy sat on a chair, feet dangling off the edge, legs not yet long enough to reach the ground. There was a frown on his face where usually a smile was supposed to be, and his head was hung low, blue eyes staring blankly at the ground below him. Messy dark golden hair framed his face, getting in his eyes, and his mouth, and everywhere it wasn't supposed to be.

But he slowly lifted his head when a little girl stepped in, opposite to him in every possible way, blue eyes bright, a grin on her lips, light blonde hair ruler-straight and perfectly brushed.

Their eyes met, and for a moment they only stared at each other, trying to understand one another with only a look. Then he glanced away once more, grimacing at the floor as she only grinned right at him.

_And so it begins, _was all Farore could think as she watched them from far away with something of a bittersweet smile on her lips.

* * *

**A/N: Ugh, to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I don't think it was written as well as it could be, but... whatever xP I know, I'm lazy, but I kinda didn't want to nitpick at it for too long. So whatever, here it is.**

**Thanks to Guest for a kind review on theme number ten!**


	43. Nature's Fury

:: | _Theme forty-three,_  
:: | Nature's Fury

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

The wind whips around his long ears, and the sea waves crash against his boat, spilling inside of it and thoroughly wetting both him and his little craft. But he doesn't bail the water out. He keeps going, the sail a tight curve above him, ignoring the wind as it pulls the green hat off his head and plunges it into the turbulent black waters.

There's a ship behind him, a great vessel far better at resisting the waves than his tiny boat. But he doesn't care. This boat is a memory, a memory of the man that was with him through his entire journey, guiding him, and he might have even been like a father.

"Link!" he hears a girl's voice call above the wind and the waves, but he ignores her. Teeth gritted, he keeps sailing forward, boat crashing into the mountain of one wave and then falling, drenched, into the valley of another.

The wind howls louder and fiercer than ever before, and the waves roll and loom over him like shadows. And then they crash into him, and it's more than his little red boat can take. It rides, almost vertical, to the top of the wave - and then it slips backward, and falls, upside down, into the black sea. And Link only watches the dark clouds above him as they swirl, and he thinks he might be screaming, but he can't be sure.

Then he's beneath the waves, spinning, crashing against water like brick walls. He can't breathe, can't think, can hardly even feel, because the walls of cold water crashing against him have almost numbed him.

Slowly his vision becomes as black as the water around him, and then he can't feel anything anymore.

* * *

The darkness just barely begins to fade when he hears a familiar voice calling his name. It belongs to a girl, and she might even be shaking his shoulder. Everything hurts, and he groans as his eyelids slowly crack open. Light floods into his eyes, and he squeezes them shut again as quickly as he can.

"Link!" that voice calls again, and he groans once more in response. "Wake up!"

I'm awake, he tries to say, but his mouth won't move and the words won't come. Instead he cracks his eyes open again, trying to force them to get used to the orange light of torches. Slowly he manages to open his eyes all the way, and discovers he's in a large ship's cabin, lying on a plush bed. The walls and floors are wood, and they're heaving and tossing, disturbing the paintings and the drawers and even the bed he's lying in.

But the girl sitting beside him doesn't even seem to notice. She looks intently at him and breathes a sigh of relief. "... You're awake."

He doesn't respond, just stares at the wooden ceiling above him and tries to ignore the pain in almost every inch of his body. He wonders, is it possible to be bruised by the ocean?

"Can you talk?" the girl asks him, blonde hair held high on her head, blue eyes peering at him from behind a face of tanned skin and taut lips.

"Y-yeah," he croaks, his voice raspy and unrecognizable to him. For a moment he only lays there, shuts his eyes again, and takes a deep shuddering breath. "What happened?" he asks when he finds the strength to speak again.

"You crashed," is her simple reply. "That boat of yours is just too small for weather like this, you know that."

He does know. But he doesn't care. With a sigh he looks at her once more, and asks, "What happened to my boat?"

She doesn't want to reply at first. Lips still taut, she only looks away, fidgets with the hem of her tunic, and shakes her head. "It... It's gone. The sea took it. I'm sorry, Link..."

The last memory he had of his father, gone. Not that the man was his blood father, but _that_ father had sailed away long ago and never returned, was never there for Link as he grew. But this man - he'd been there through everything, thick and thin, and now he's gone, and so is the last memory of his presence. He had died beneath the waves. Link supposes it's only fitting that his boat did, too.

"He's... just, gone, isn't he?" Link mumbles, and realizes he's trembling. "But, he was the only one who cared, and wanted to help me... and now he's..."

"Link," she interrupts him, meeting his eyes with her own fierce ones. She doesn't blink, only stares at him with an intensity that forces him to listen. "You forgot about _me. I _care. And... and we..." She begins to drop her gaze at this part, and he thinks her cheeks might be turning the slightest tinge of pink, but he isn't quite sure. "I mean, we have each other, don't we?"

They do, he knows. And he realizes how young he is, and how young the girl is. They're both only eleven, but they feel so much older, because they've been through hell and back together.

And even though the pain of loss won't ever fade away, he thinks it might just be a little easier to bear with her beside him.

"I guess so," is his simple response, the words lackluster but the relief behind them genuine. Then he shuts his eyes again, and she's silent, allowing him to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

**A/N: Finally wrote something Wind Waker related xP I've been wanting to for a long time, and here it is! Definitely going to do more Wind Waker stuff in the future. c:**

**/incoming shameless self-advertising/ For any of you who liked Fork in the Road, I've officially turned it into a full story, called "Of the Dawn and the Twilight". Check it out if you're interested! :D /end shameless self-advertising/**


	44. At Peace

:: | _Theme forty-four,_  
:: | At Peace

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Nobody knows why the moon is so close. Or why it has a face.

Mutoh strides through the town, chin high and confident, pointedly ignoring the ugly, scowling hunk of rock hanging above him. _The moon won't fall, _is what he's been telling himself ever since he first saw it bearing down upon the world with hatred burning in its eyes.

There's a rumor, a rumor that if you watch the moon long enough, you can see it inching ever closer towards the world below. But that isn't true, Mutoh knows.

A heavy door creaks, groans as it swings open, scraping against the stone floor of the plaza.

Clock Town is always busy, especially around this time of year, with people milling about, attending to their business. The plaza teems with life - though, due to the moon, perhaps not as much as usual - and all these people stop and turn when they hear the loud door open.

A boy stumbles out from beneath the clock tower, blonde hair filthy, green clothes rumpled, something dark and red and unpleasant staining his tunic. Whether it is his own blood or the blood of someone else, Mutoh doesn't want to think about it. He's already late to his meeting with the mayor; he can't delay any longer.

He can't help feeling that something watches his every step. And he knows it's the moon... But no, that's ridiculous. The moon isn't a living thing. It may have sprouted a face out of nowhere, but it doesn't live, it doesn't breathe, and it'll stay right where it is.

He turns around again; continues walking as if nothing is wrong. All is peaceful. He only needs to make sure everyone else in the town understands that.

* * *

Even in the most unholy hours, people bustle to and fro, visiting as many shops and stalls as they can, enjoying the lively night in Clock Town.

Rather - that's how things usually are, but not tonight.

There are still a few people exploring the streets of the town, but very few of them are tourists. And the ones that do remain outside instead of in their beds walk with a certain urgency. Their eyes always drift toward the moon, and their lips are always pressed into grim lines.

Mutoh refuses to look up at the ugly rock hanging in the sky, because he doesn't want to acknowledge its existence. He can't see it, but he knows it's there, because who could forget about it? Even though he isn't looking at it, he remembers its face perfectly - grimacing lips, cruel eyes orange as a hungry fire.

For many years, Clock Town has thrived in peace, and in peace it will remain. He'd tried to convince the mayor of that fact - had tried to convince the soldiers too - but they had still panicked, had still insisted that _"the moon will fall"._

_The moon won't fall, _Mutoh tells himself as he stands there nearby the clock tower, watching his men slave away to build the Festival Tower. It will be draped in colorful cloth when it's finished, a symbol of the joy Termina feels around this time of year.

And there _will _be joy. The festival will continue as planned. The people will laugh, and dance, and sing, and they won't be hiding, cowering away from the moon. Mutoh will make sure of that. He shouts at one of his passing men to "hammer that plank right up there", and he points. The worker nods his head and hurries off to do as he is told.

Someone is running. In the relative silence, their loud, pounding footsteps against stone ring harsh against the walls. Mutoh flicks his gaze in the direction of the noise, and sees the boy - that mysterious boy from earlier - sprinting through the town as if his life depends on it. A white fairy flies frantically beside him, trying her best to keep up, calling out, "Link, wait!"

The blonde-haired boy rushes past him, looking no cleaner than he had earlier that day, when he had first stepped out from beneath the clock tower. Mutoh ignores him, folds his arms across his chest and stubbornly watches his men work, refusing to look in the boy's direction.

_He's running away, I bet, _he thinks as he hears the child's footsteps retreating.

Running away. From the moon. At the thought, Mutoh can't help lifting his eyes, and they find that horrifying moon. The sight of it sends a chill dancing down his spine, but he swallows and ignores it.

_The moon won't fall, _he thinks to himself with a nod of confirmation.

* * *

_Late afternoon already. _Mutoh grunts in irritation as he watches the gray clouds shift across the sky, fat droplets of rain splashing against his face. The Festival Tower is still largely incomplete, and he knows he'll have to keep his men awake late into the night again if he intends to have it finished in time for the festival.

With his gaze trained upon the sky, he can't help looking just a little to the side and seeing it - the moon. He can't deny the fact that yes, it looks closer now, much closer than it had yesterday...

But no. _The moon won't fall, _he tells himself again, and quickly averts his eyes. His lips are taut and his eyes narrowed as he focuses solely on overseeing the construction of the Festival Tower. He resolves not to look at that ugly rock again, because he won't give it that small bit of satisfaction.

_Satisfaction...?_ Mutoh stands there for a while in the rain, absentmindedly staring at the ground beneath him. And, he wonders -

_Since when did I start thinking of the moon as a living thing?_

The urge to look up into its terrible eyes, meet its demonic gaze is almost too strong. He can't explain it, because the moon is revolting, why of all things, would he want to _look _at it again?

Maybe, maybe to confirm that awful rumor, the one that says if you watch it for too long, you can see it inching toward the earth...

No. _The moon won't fall._ That's what he's been telling himself since day one, and he's right, how can he not be? After all, he's only being realistic. It just isn't realistic for the moon to fall, isn't realistic for it to crush the world and all her inhabitants beneath its wicked grimace.

But then again - it isn't realistic for the moon to have a face, either.

Out of the corner of his eye he notices that same strange green-clad boy. His feet pound frantically at the ground again, rainwater splashing up around his legs with each quick movement.

_Interesting to know he hasn't fled yet._

Once again, just like yesterday, the boy sprints past him, fairy in tow. For a moment he slows, just a little, and turns his head. Mutoh can feel his eyes burning into him, studying him, but he doesn't return the child's gaze.

Instead, he looks up again, unable to resist - and meets the horrifying eyes of the moon.

_The moon won't fall..._

* * *

Midnight buries Termina in a shroud of darkness, and a lonely bell tolls a chilling song. The sky glows red, and not a single star shines through the veil of crimson.

Mutoh stands outside beside the now-completed Festival Tower. As soon as they had finished it, his men had fled for their lives - despite the fact that whenever he had said, _"The moon won't fall! Termina will remain at peace!" _they had agreed with him.

What petty liars they had been.

Now it's only him, arms folded firmly across his chest, stubbornly standing in the center of the plaza, a plaza that should be brimming with life and laughter - but there's nothing. Only eerie stillness.

_The moon won't fall, _he had told himself time and time again. And he still tells himself the same thing, even though the moon hangs closer than ever before and, if he watches it, he can see it inching ever closer.

He alone remains in Clock Town. Not a soul that he can see has stayed behind. Even most of the guards standing at the gates have fled.

_Then, why haven't I? _he wonders to himself with mounting panic as he watches, watches the moon reach toward him with those horrible orange eyes.

_Because - the moon won't fall._

It's an obvious lie. By now, he knows this. He wants nothing more than to flee to safety, to find somewhere he can hide from impending doom.

But something - he doesn't know what, but _something _\- tells him there is no safety. There is nowhere to hide.

Silence is his company now, disturbed only by the tolling of the bell. No chatter fills the air. No footsteps, no whispers, no swish of skirts as a woman walks by. Mutoh is utterly alone, and the only eyes watching him are the moon's.

Suddenly the boy and his fairy are there again. Clad in green, his blonde hair messier than ever before. But this time he isn't running. He walks, calm, across the plaza, boots echoing hollow against the walls. And for the first time since Mutoh had seen the boy, he meets his eyes.

The boy's eyes are bright blue, and sad, and icy, somehow all at the same time. And they don't belong on the face of such a young child.

He thinks it strange, thinks the boy strange, but when the young child stops in front of him as if to say something, Mutoh only sneers. "The moon won't fall," he says, though the words are empty. And the boy can tell. He only presses his lips together into a thin line, and doesn't respond.

The bell cries, the sky bleeds, and the moon laughs at the scene of the old man who, even in the face of apocalypse, retains his petty pride.

Then the boy turns, and leaves without ever speaking a word. He vanishes behind another wall, and after a moment's pause Mutoh can hear the melancholy song of an ocarina. Its notes drift through the silent sky, soft and cruel as a dirge.

And the boy doesn't return.

Once more Mutoh returns his gaze to the moon, and it smirks at him in these, his final hours.

And, he finally admits it to himself -

_The moon will fall._

* * *

**A/N: So I didn't do the _best _job of sticking to the theme - I tried to, what with Mutoh stubbornly insisting that Clock Town will remain peaceful even though he's obviously wrong. But I had fun anyway xD**

**Thank you _so _much to ThisIsANiceName for the suggestion! I really liked writing it, and I hope all of you guys enjoy the outcome x3 Thanks for reading!**


	45. Heart Song

:: | _Theme forty-five,_  
:: | Heart Song

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Once, her name had been Zelda, and she had been waiting for him for a very long time.

Fingers danced across the strings of her lyre, and a beautiful melody filled the air, sweet and kind. Red eyes once blue were closed as she listened intently to the song she was playing. Slowly the melody changed, dropped into a minor key, a sad song of mourning.

It reflected her life, she thought - a life that had started out happy and carefree, and before she had even finished her childhood, everything had gone downhill. Now here she was, sitting alone in the gray temple, no longer resplendent, the light filtering in through the windows red instead of blue - much like her eyes.

There was a boy in the temple, locked away for what felt like an eternity, but he slept in another realm, and she could not see him. She knew not when he would rise and take up the blade of evil's bane, when he would fight to regain the lost kingdom.

So, she could only wait. And wait she did, playing a quiet song of lamentation, lamentation for her lost kingdom, her lost people, her lost home, her lost identity.

_Sheik, _that was who she was now. No longer Princess Zelda of Hyrule, kingdom of the Gods. Only Sheik, a mysterious being draped in darkness, only able to watch from the shadows as her kingdom died.

How desperately she wished to defeat the king of evil herself, to reclaim the glorious Hyrule and return it to life.

But it was not her calling. She was not the hero.

And silently she cursed the Goddesses, dared to curse them even though she never had before, had never even _thought _to, because they wouldn't allow her to do anything to save her people. It wasn't her place. No, her place was to wait, wait and do _nothing _as _everything _happened around her and she couldn't protect her kingdom and its people.

She had tried, and she had failed - and she'd had a vision one night, a vision of the Goddesses telling her to wait for the hero, because she could do nothing.

Nothing.

The melody had long since stopped, but she had not noticed it, lost in her anger as she was. Red eyes flashed open to greet the gray world and she sighed, only sighed, for she could do nothing else. She had tried, tried so hard, and failed so miserably.

Trembling fingers waited for a moment, paused, hovering, above the strings of the lyre. Then crimson eyes, reflections of the blood and pain she had seen, closed again.

And she played a mournful song, for she could do nothing else.

* * *

**A/N: So it's a short little thing, only took me less than ten minutes to write, but I kinda like it this way - it's fueled purely by emotion and how I think poor Zelda must be feeling, and I don't want to write more/edit it so much that it becomes overly complicated. Hopefully it's okay x3**

**Anyway, if any of you have noticed so far... I have two extremely conflicting headcanons about the Golden Goddesses, and I switch between them purely at random, whenever I feel like it xD One headcanon is that they're kind and loving, and only wish for the best for their ****people, and if people hate them, it's just because they misunderstand them. The other headcanon is that they're actually kinda cruel at times, maybe.**

**And yes, I know the game calls it a "harp", but it's a lyre.**


	46. Reflection

:: | _Theme forty-six,_  
:: | Reflection

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Warm orange flame hungrily devours firewood, and a dark shape huddles nearby, watching it dance. Night blankets the forest, and stars shine in the darkness. Moonlight filters through trees that dance in the chill night wind, and the figure shudders.

A voice whispers to him from his shadow; a voice all too familiar, quiet, lilting, like the song of the night around him. He responds, and he thinks his voice is much too similar to hers in its muted tones.

Then an imp leaps up from his shadow, dark mask, like horns, spiraling from her head, single blood eye peering at him from amidst blackness. She grins - and a single fang pokes from beneath lips blue like death.

A demon, she's a demon - or so she should be, but she isn't. And he grins in return.

She settles next to him, watching the fire, both their long ears listening to the crackling flames, sharply contrasted with the sound of gentle water lapping at grassy shores.

The imp picks a white flower, turns it orange in the firelight, like her hair, and she twirls it in her tiny hand. The man beside her watches her, watches as the shadow studies the light, and he thinks about how strange it is - how he had once hated her for pulling him away from the sun, for dragging him into eternal dusk, and how she'd had the _audacity _to insist that the dusk was beautiful even though, no, it clearly wasn't.

Now, he isn't so sure. He peers into the shallow waters of the spring, the spring that lies peaceful in the woods nearby his home. Or what had once been his home. But now, he isn't so sure. He isn't so sure about anything anymore.

Once he had bathed in sunlight, loved the warm breeze for the way it tousled his golden hair. Now he skulks about in twilight with a demon-imp for company, and thrives in the long mysterious shadows that beckon him with spindly fingers.

And the people he loves - the people of his hometown, villagers of the sun, bright like the sky - would think him insane if they knew. But whether or not they'd be right, he can't say.

The spring is like glass, a mirror, reflecting the heavens and the moon high above, reflecting the fire as it licks at its wooden prey. She watches the white flower as its head droops, and heaves a great sigh. He looks at her, thinks that the firelight on her small, round face is beautiful.

He remembers that he hadn't always felt that way. Once, long ago, he had thought her ugly. A little demon wearing a cruel smirk and watching, always watching from his shadow, never leaving him alone to his thoughts for even a second. And always her voice, whispering from the blackness, like the breath of a beast on his neck seconds before it lunges to kill. And with her nearby, night had always come as a blight, a curse that the sun would chase away every morning, giving him comfort and joy and warmth on his face.

But now when he hears her voice, he thinks it beautiful and soft, like a lullaby. And with her nearby, night is beautiful and majestic, the moon's smile gentle and kind. He isn't so sure that he's ready to face the sun's scorching heat and its blinding light, the way it glares down upon the world with cruel judgement in its eyes.

He watches, sky-blue eyes intent, as she removes the crown of horns from her head and lets her hair like liquid fire flow free. Now her other eye is visible, and their glow pierces the night like red stars.

She looks up at him, and their gazes meet, and they only smile at one another for a moment before she settles down to sleep for the night.

He turns his gaze to the spring again, watches the fire roar and cast long shadows across his face. The flames illuminate one side of his face, and cast shadows across his skin, shadows under his eyes, shadows around his lips, making them appear to be curved into a grimace. Blackness swallows the other half of his face, consuming him, and only one of his eyes is visible through the dark. But it no longer shines blue like the sky. Instead, it's red, just like hers. He can see her in the reflection too, lying nearby him, eyes closed peacefully. And he realizes, in the firelight, the demon-imp and the child of the sun look no different from one another.

Perhaps, if his people one day call him insane, they'd be right.

And he looks at her; he can't help thinking that she's an angel. An angel who listens to the whispers of dusk and thrives on its secrets - but an angel nonetheless.

But he doesn't know. He isn't one to talk, because, now - he's a shadow just like she is.


	47. Perfection

:: | _Theme forty-seven,_  
:: | Perfection

* * *

: Rated K+ :

* * *

It's _disgusting._

The sun. It stands high in the sky, a cruel sentinel, and the people of light love it. Might even worship it.

And they disgust me too.

Soon this harsh land will fall beneath the curtain of twilight. The people will reject it, I am sure of that. But they will come to love it, in time. Realize that it's far superior to their harsh, scorching sunlight. And they _will _thank me for it.

Some may see me as a villain. The Twili did - they always did. Even when I showed them my brilliance, proved to them that I would make a far better ruler than that pompous, horrid, irrational creature _Midna..._

Just thinking her name makes me want to _spit. _Curse her. _Curse her._

I consider myself the practical kind. I will not suffer any useless thing to enter my presence. Either it must be changed to fit my standards, or it must be destroyed. I suppose the Twili found my rules to be much too strict - but they only felt that way because they were blind. Blinded by Midna's bright beauty. _Blind._

And so I cursed them. Now they have no eyes. Cruel irony, some may say. But they don't understand. It is only fair punishment. I had to do it - after all, they had denied me my rightful place on the throne, even after I had been granted power from a god. A _god! _And still, still they rejected me, how _dare _they?!

Green fields stretch vast before me. Fields that will be shrouded in beautiful twilight.

And it will be perfect.

* * *

Beasts at my command. At the snap of my fingers, they flock to my heels, and sit, and stay, like trained dogs awaiting their master's next order.

They had once been sentient beings. But it is for the best now that they cannot think for themselves; after all, when they'd been capable of thought, they had not been rational, or intelligent. The way they had followed Midna, clung to her every word, they had almost been mindless beasts anyway.

They only received what they deserved.

"Go." And they obey.

Twilight blankets the land, blots out the harsh sunlight, and it is wonderful. If I peer out the window of the castle tower, I can see far. Almost everything. Hyrule sprawls before my gaze, golden and black and beautiful. A smile tilts my lips at the sight of it, and it has been a long time since I last smiled.

Midna is out there somewhere, roaming the land as a helpless imp, and a wolf-boy might have been the hero had my Shadow Beasts not captured him. Now he lies chained in the dungeons, helpless and weak and confused.

I love it when everything works out according to plan. It's so satisfying, to lean here on the windowsill, and gaze upon a vast new land. A land that is now mine.

Technically this land had always belonged to my people, but the foul light-dwellers had stolen it from us ages ago. It's only fair that I've reclaimed it.

A land both practical and beautiful. It seems too much to ask for, but here it lies before me. And I love it, every bit of it. I worked hard for it, endured years of skulking about in Midna's overbearing shadow, unnoticed by my own people because of her brilliant charm. Hyrule is rightfully mine.

Of course the people fear me for it. Hate me, even, turn me into the villain that I am not. They wither in the perpetual twilight, but only because they do not understand it.

A kingdom, helpless, at my feet. An army, wholly mine, at my command. The power of a god quite literally at my fingertips. And a world of twilight, beautiful, vast, _mine._

And it _is_ perfect.

* * *

**A/N: Had to write about Zant, cause... Zant. I don't think any further explanation is needed. (Admittedly, I've been meaning to write about Ghirahim for a while, but every single time I try, it ends up turning into Zant. Oops?)**

**Sorry if it seems short, and not all that it could have been. Admittedly, I started struggling with this one and kind of just wanted to move to the next theme. I'm going to try to start focusing on minor characters more - that doesn't mean the more main characters will be neglected, heavens no! But I noticed that I write a _ton _about Link, and maybe Zelda and Midna here and there, and I wanted to try writing about some of the less major characters occasionally. So we'll see how that goes, haha.**


	48. Everyday Magic

:: | _Theme forty-eight,_  
:: | Everyday Magic

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

Sometimes the sands seem cruel, unforgiving; they reach with greedy fingers, and day and night they bury corpses beneath their golden grains. He pushes ever onward, even when the scorching sun threatens to burn him alive. (He is the hero, after all - what else can he do?)

Sometimes the snow seems fierce. It is wicked, a blizzard that beats even the most determined of travelers into the ground, and he hates the way its icy winds drive cold daggers into his skin. (Funny how something inanimate can be so alive.)

Sometimes the rushing river seems hungry. It roars, and crashes, and he remembers being nearly drowned beneath its might, quite literally howling in desperation as its terrible fingers shoved water down his gasping throat.

Sometimes the forest seems deadly. Beasts roam within it; he remembers their glowing yellow eyes, their cruel fangs as they advanced upon his humble village and threatened to rip everything he loved to shreds. He and the others had protected their goats, and their flourishing crops, and the helpless children from the terrible onslaught. He'll never forget the demonic eyes of those wolves. (Ironic, isn't it? That he's a wolf, now, too - and the people who had once known him so well rejected him when they saw his new, bestial form.)

Sometimes the fields seem dark. When moonless night envelops them, he cannot see, and there is nothing to guide him. He can only huddle beside his meager campfire and listen with frenzied heart as monsters prowl in the blackness. He does not see them. But he can _hear _them - their terrible growls, hisses, distant, echoing roars… And with a gulp he brings his knees to his chest and hugs himself tight, as if that will chase the nightmares away.

Sometimes _she _seems evil. Her crimson eye glows like the blood on his hands and when he sees her - he remembers corpses.

But not all is darkness. She comes to sit beside him, and when he looks at her, he actually finds himself smiling - and she smiles back. Not a cruel smile. One of kindness, and of comfort, and his racing heart stills.

Sometimes the sands are beautiful. The wind whispers between them, and they flow, entwined in eternal dance, and he runs between them, slipping, sliding, but _free, _and a laugh tears from his throat.

Sometimes the snow smiles. He crests the mountain's top, and pure blue shines clear above him, heaven itself unfolding before his gaze. The very air steals his breath away as he watches the entire world sprawl beneath his feet, snowflakes like diamonds blanketing every inch of life.

Sometimes the river laughs. It runs, silver and wonderful and cool on his thirsty tongue, and he smiles as he dips his hands into it, and it flows like silken thread around his skin.

Sometimes the forest embraces him. He feels most at home beneath its cool pines. They reach gentle branches toward him, and thick oaks tickle him with their fall leaves. He scales their branches and claims a sweet fruit to eat, juice dribbling down his chin as he watches the trees' canopies stretch in the soft breeze.

Sometimes the fields glow. As the fire's light surrounds him, he turns his gaze to the black skies, and sees a million constellations spread like the feathers of a great bird above him. Stars glow like crystal, reflecting in his sky-blue eyes, and his heart stills a moment as he imagines how far they must stretch - how they must watch, silent sentinels, as the world moves beneath their unfaltering gaze.

And she. She is the best of them all, he thinks, as he turns his gaze to hers. Her eye glows like sunset, like memories of peace and of contentment, of a world where only softness matters, the gentle drifting shut of children's eyes just before night falls to welcome them into long, comfortable slumber.

He smiles as he thinks of it all. There is beauty in balance; in the sun to chase away the night, and in the night to bathe the world in cool darkness. He realizes that now. _She _made him realize.

(And when he looks at her again, she grins - a grin he'd thought ugly, once, but now it fills him with priceless warmth that not even the sun can give him.)

* * *

**A/N: Wow, I vanished for a while there... Sorry. I got distracted writing a ton of other things. xD I'm sorry to return with something so short and pathetic (and Twilight Princess _again, _really?) but honestly I just didn't know what to write for this one. I finally just buckled down, listened to some Journey OST, and... wrote. Not the best thing ever but hey. I'm back :P**


	49. Umbrella

:: _Theme forty-nine,_  
:: Umbrella

* * *

: Rated K :

* * *

gray. that's all there is really

the surface is supposed to be a beautiful place, according to zelda anyway. but as the gray sky pours gray rain and soaks the gray grass he just thinks it's all very dismal and nothing more. he wishes for an umbrella. but they're all up in skyloft… same with the rest of the people he'd once known. that feels like forever ago. now it's just him and zelda, all alone, and though he might have loved the idea of that a year ago, now it just feels terribly bleak.

sometimes he hates the surface.

it feels lonely. _he _feels lonely, especially as he stares up there, into those dark, dull clouds and realizes he used to live up there, beyond them, beyond where anything bad could ever touch. most bad things, anyway. but he'd loved that sky island, and it had always been so bright and beautiful and full of life and love. sort of.

remember when groose was the worst of his problems?

hah

funny.

he supposes he doesn't have much to deal with now, other than the occasional giant man-eating plant or a flock of irritating birds that threaten to peck his eyes out, but most the monsters are gone from the surface after demise's defeat.

_demise's defeat? _sounds kinda silly, he thinks, and gives just the slightest hint of a smile, maybe, even with the sound of pouring rain the only thing in existence, pounding the gray (of course it's gray) stone roof of the sealed temple above him. no. he doesn't have much to complain about. he's standing beneath a shelter, beside the grand statue of the goddess, and he isn't really very wet at all. just mildly damp, because he hadn't gotten out of the rain fast enough. he's got shelter, and peace (mostly), and zelda.

speaking of - zelda should be inside the temple. maybe she can cheer him up. who is he kidding, she _always _cheers him up, she just has a way of doing that, with her sunshine hair and sunshine eyes and sunshine laughter. she's just the opposite of this gloomy rain. probably why he loves her so much.

should he tell her that?

nah.

his dismal day begins to feel just a bit brighter at the thought of her - even though sometimes he feels all alone down here, even with zelda at his side, and even though the silence feels like it's suffocating him, sometimes.

whatever

at least he has her.

as if his thoughts summoned her, she herself steps outside the temple and grins at him, and his heart lifts a bit at the sight. is it just him, or is the sky bluer now?

"what are you doing all alone out here in the rain, silly?" she laughs, and he only shrugs in reply. she isn't offended by his silence. she never has been. he finds her joy contagious, and grins, too, as she lifts an umbrella from her side and opens it, a bright green affair spattered with a mess of large pink dots. a really garish thing, but he doesn't say that. he knows she likes it. and it's the only color in this dull world (besides her) so he isn't complaining.

"you have your umbrella?" he asks with a raised brow. "when did you get that? last i saw, it was still on skyloft."

she holds it over his head - despite the fact that the half-broken roof of the sealed temple provides enough cover - and smiles. "i brought it down here. figured we'd need it for a rainy day. and i'm right, aren't i?" she giggles then, and he really can't help it when his grin widens. "now come on! i want to explore!"

"but you already know what faron woods looks like."

"it's _raining, _link, don't be boring, rain is fun! hurry up, before it stops!" with a giggle she grasps his hand, and the feel of her skin against his is like fire coursing through his veins. suddenly the damp chill in the air vanishes like night before the sun's radiance, and he shakes his head in amusement as she drags him out into the rain, holding the umbrella above the both of them.

maybe it isn't so dismal. at least not with zelda here at his side.

* * *

**A/N: Eh. Sorry for this one... it's short, and weird, what with the lack of capitalization and even punctuation sometimes. Basically - I think I'm going through a mild writer's block, because nothing I write is really turning out how I want it to. Therefore, I've been feeling really dull and kind of mildly sad the whole day, so I just decided to take out my feelings on a oneshot. I didn't capitalize anything because I was honestly just too apathetic to even bother. It probably looks _really _ugly, and I'm sorry. Heck, it bugs me a bit to see all those uncapitalized things, but I feel it sort of gives a really dull mood to the theme... which is what I was going for. It did make me feel a bit better to write this if that counts for anything x3**


End file.
